Contrivance and Fate
by likeafairy190410
Summary: Sirius watched Violet dart up the stairs. James turned to him. "She's something, isn't she Padfoot?" "I do have eyes Prongs," Sirius replied.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize from Harry Potter is not mine. (Also, thank you for even clicking on this. Especially with a summary as pathetic as this one.) **

* * *

Smoke, fog, hooting, meowing, chattering, laughing, even squealing.

Violet was nearly overwhelmed by it all.

A hand came down on her shoulder.

"Vi," he dad said, moving to help her lift her trunk onto the train, which would be departing in only a few minutes. "enjoy your year, ok? Promise me won't get caught up in what happened with your mum."

Vi smiled and nodded. She always smiled, even when she didn't feel like it. Especially when she didn't feel like it. It was easier to block unhappy thoughts out that way.

"I'll miss you a lot," Violet said, after they'd heaved the trunk through the trains door. Violet stepped up and clung to the side of the door, still facing her dad.

"I'll miss you too sweetheart."

"I'll try to write once a week."

"If you don't have time, don't fret about it, okay? Focus on your schoolwork. And enjoying Hogwarts. You'll love it. I know you will."

They hugged each other tightly as the train whistled. Stragglers on the platform rushed onto the train and kids hung out of windows waving to their parents. Violet stepped back as the door was shut. Through the window, she gave one last smile and a wave. Her father responded in kind, happy to see some genuine excitement showing in Violet's face.

The train began to move, quickly gaining momentum, before speeding off.

Violet dragged her trunk down the corridor, people rushing past her. A few of the older ones looked at her curiously as they passed, not recognizing her from previous years. Every compartment she past was full or had people who immediately stopped talking and stared at her, their eyes wide, which gave Violet the feeling that she wouldn't be very welcome, so hurried past them as well.

Eventually she came to a compartment with only four boys laughing loudly at something, with room for at least two more people. Not wanting to walk any further down the train with her heavy trunk and hopeful at the sounds of laughter coming from the compartment, she knocked on the door and slid it open even wider.

"Um, hello," she said. "Sorry, but you guys are the first compartment with an empty spot that I've passed and I don't really know anyone. Could I sit in here?"

"You can have whatever you want," the boy with shaggy dark hair, nearest to her right, said suggestively, grinning widely. Violet's lips twitched. She appreciated a nice pick up line every now and then, no matter how awful.

"Ignore him," the one across from him, with round glasses and shockingly messy hair, said. "But sure, come in." He noticed her trunk. "Do you need help lifting that? You're kind of small." He suppressed a grin at the last bit.

Violet rolled her eyes but smiled. "A bit of help would be nice."

He and the first boy lifted up her trunk onto the shelf above and Violet took a seat. "I'm Violet by the way. Or just Vi. Whichever."

"Remus." The pale boy next to her with light brown hair and tired, dark brown eyes.

"Peter." Across from her, with sandy coloured hair, darting eyes and looking just a little heavier looking then the others.

"Sirius." The boy with shaggy hair and a reckless grin.

"James." The one with glasses and messy, windswept hair.

Sirius and James took their seats again and the four of them openly stared at Violet.

"You don't seem like a first year," Remus said after a moment.

"That's because I'm not," Vi smiled. "I'm a sixth year."

"That's our year! Why are you here so late?" Remus asked.

Violet hesitated. "We had to move from France, partly because of my dad's job. He works for the department of international magical cooperation and he was the British representative in France. He put in for a transfer back to Britain."

"Why?" James asked.

Violet hesitated for a second, wondering how much she should relay. "My mum died." Violet said, rather bluntly. The four marauders' looked shocked at her casual tone. "Quite recently actually. I suppose Dad would say that's the main reason we moved. Our house seemed strange without her and neither of us wanted to stay. I used to go to Beauxbatons but it seemed too far away to be from Dad now. And he always said Hogwarts was the best time of his life so when Professor Dumbledore offered me a place …" she trailed off and shrugged.

There was silence in the compartment as the marauders took this in.

"Sorry about your mum," Peter said.

Violet smiled at him. "Not your fault." Another silence. Violet hated the idea that they were pitying her. "Dad said something about a Hogwarts house system. He told me what all the houses stood for and all that. What house are you guys in?"

"Gryffindor," James said proudly. "What was your Dad in?"

"Ravenclaw," Violet answered.

"Any idea what you want to be in?" Sirius asked.

Violet shook her head. "I don't know. I figure I'll just go with whatever I get put into."

Sirius was about to reply when the trolley lady came by. "Anything from the trolley, dears?" she asked, opening the compartment door.

"Want anything?" James asked the group, standing up.

"Cauldron cakes."

"Chocolate frogs."

"Licorice wands."

They spoke all at once, to Violet's amusement.

"What about you, Vi? Want anything?" James asked.

"I'm alright. I'm not that hungry."

"Rubbish. You look like a Pumpkin Pasties kinda girl," James said.

Violet really laughed then. "How'd you know that?"

"I have an eye for these things," James said seriously, before turning around and ordering.

* * *

"FIRS' YERS! FIRS YERS THIS WAY!"

A giant man was calling, swinging a lantern, in the drizzling rain.

Violet looked at him curiously. There had to be some giant blood there or something …

"- good question actually." Remus said, cutting into Violet's thoughts. "Do you have to go with the first years to get sorted?"

"Um, Professor Dumbledore said in a letter that I had to get up to the castle as soon as I could so I could be sorted before the first years in private."

"Really?"

"Yes. I think my dad told him I didn't want a big fuss."

Sirius, who'd been listening, darted forward to an empty carriage before a couple of Hufflepuffs could claim it. "Come on then. Let's go."

Violet laughed. "Why are you so eager?"

"I want to know what house you're in!"

"You probably want to know more than I do," Violet told him, as he took her hand and pulled her up onto the carriage.

* * *

"Miss Bryce," an unfamiliar voice called from across the magnificent Entrance Hall. Violet looked around, and stood on her toes to see past James Potter, who was a lot taller than her. A impressive, but kindly looking witch was approaching her. "Miss Bryce, I'm Professor McGonagall. I'm here to take you to be sorted."

"Right, yeah."

"Can we come?" James piped up.

"Can you -" Professor McGonagall started.

"Yeah. We like her."

"No, Potter. It's best we just hurry this along because the first years must be sorted afterwards and this can't take too -"

"But Professor if you have to meet the first years, then how will Vi be able to find her way back?" Sirius asked.

McGonagall tutted as she could see they weren't going to let this go. And Black had a point, she reasoned. "One of you can come. Work it out between yourselves now. Miss Bryce, let's move quickly."

As McGonagall and Violet began hurrying away, Sirius shouted "DIBS" and pushed James back into Remus and Peter behind him as he moved to run after them.

In Professor McGonagall's office sat a tatty looking hat that strangely looked as though it had a face. Violet felt some unexpected nerves begin to bubble up inside her now. What did sorting entail exactly? No one had mentioned it to her. She looked at Sirius, who was standing behind the armchair she was seated on, for reassurance.

He smiled at her encouragingly, remembering when he was first sorted. He'd had no idea what to do either.

Professor McGonagall lifted the hat by its tip, and said, "Hopefully you'll be sorted quickly, like Sirius was. I remember almost as soon as I put the hat on, it shouted 'Gryffindor'."

Violet felt the hats brim drop, covering her eyes.

_Hm._

A voice in her head.

_You definitely have a craving for justice that the Hufflepuff's always have … but you feel just a bit too hard for them. Ravenclaw … smart - yes, curious - yes. That could be a fit. But you seem a bit too reckless. Gryffindor seems good … you've got nerves of steel and you're brave and resilient … but then Slytherin … you're very driven, very ambitious … and you're quite good at hiding things. Almost cunning in how you hide what … that doesn't necessarily mean you belong there though. Hm, you are a tricky one._

Violet listened to the hat but made no comment. She didn't want to influence the hats decision in anyway. Her mother was sorted by this hat too and she needed to know how similar she was to her mother. And for that she needed the hat to have no bias.

_You do have a rather strong set of values that you abide by though … and it doesn't appear that you would break them for anything. Whether those values are all good and true doesn't really matter … I think the fact here is you'll stick by them so long as you believe in them. So I'll put you in -_

"Gryffindor," the hat announced.

* * *

Violet and Sirius found James, Remus and Peter quickly at the table, close to the door.

"Gryffindor?" Remus asked hopefully.

Violet grinned and nodded.

After the feast, James, Sirius and Peter led her up to the Gryffindor tower. Remus had gone ahead to help fulfill his prefect duties, with a pretty. smiling red-haired girl who had greeted him with a brief, friendly hug.

James sighed when he saw her.

"Who's that?" Violet asked him.

"Lily Evans. The love of my life."

Sirius coughed and Violet looked at him. "James' feelings are actually un-reciprocated and therefore she is not actually the love of his life."

"Yet." James said sharply.

"Yet," Sirius agreed. "he's fancied her since first year and he's been asking her out every day since third year but she's always said no. But she does like him. Sort of."

Violet scoffed. "Sort of. That's promising, I guess."

James stared at her for a second. "Hey, you're a girl Violet."

"Yes," Violet nodded seriously, as both Peter and Sirius snorted.

"You'll be rooming with Lily and the other girls. You could put in a good word for me, couldn't you?"

"I could," Violet nodded slowly. "For a price."

James pursed his lips. "Name it?"

"Well I don't know what my price will be yet, but I'm sure I'll think of something good." Violet replied.

Sirius laughed, shaking his head. "I'm glad you chose our compartment to sit in."

"The feeling is mutual, Sirius," Violet replied.

"Babbity Rabbity," James said to the Fat Lady portrait. It swung open and they entered into the Gryffindor common room. There was already a warm, crackling fire in the fireplace, giving the room a homely feel.

"The girls dormitory is up that staircase. There should be a sign saying sixth years on the door if it's anything like ours. We'd come with you but boys can't go up. There's an enchantment on the stairs and we haven't figured out a way around it yet." Sirius said.

"Oh, ok. Well, thanks guys. I'll see you in the morning, I guess," Violet smiled at them before heading up the stairs.

"Definitely," James said. He waited until she was out of sight then turned to Sirius. "She's something, isn't she Padfoot."

"I do have eyes Prongs," Sirius replied, Violet's blue eyes and defined cheekbones, framed by thick, long blonde hair, dancing around in his head.

Peter chuckled, following the bantering pair up the stairs to their own dormitory.

* * *

**So that's that! It'd be great if anyone could leave some reviews or something. Even if it's just a tiny little thing like "I read this and I am interested in seeing what happens." or even the opposite. I'm open to anything at this point, really. **


	2. Chapter 2

Violet entered her new dormitory. Six four poster beds greeted her, with four of its occupants already there, laughing and chattering as they unpacked their trunks.

Uncertainly, Violet moved forward a few steps.

"Oh," the girl nearest to her looked around. "Hello! Professor McGonagall just came round to say we'd be getting a new girl. I'm Marlene Kane."

"I'm Violet Bryce."

"Well don't just stand there, pick a bed!" Marlene said. "You can have this one" she indicated to an empty bed on her right "Or this one." She indicated to the other one on her left. "The others have already picked the ones furthest away from me, unfortunately. I have a tendency to sleep talk sometimes."

Marlene was quite a character, Violet discovered. She had long pale blonde hair, excitable hazel eyes and her mouth occasionally worked faster than her brain. She was tall, and used her wand to unpack far too often then was to be considered normal. Violet found herself sitting on her new bed (the one to the right of Marlene and closest to the bathroom) talking and laughing with Marlene instead of properly unpacking.

Mary Macdonald was a lot more subdued in comparison. She had bouncy, wavy, short brown hair, a heart shaped face and friendly green-grey eyes. She seemed to be very studious, carefully stacking her new schoolbooks (already dog-eared and bookmarked) on her designated shelf. She occasionally interjected with Marlene, and laughed, eventually also giving up on unpacking to sit beside Violet on her bed.

Amber Noel and Lucy Hurst seemed to be best friends. Amber had long, shiny chestnut-coloured hair with olive skin and brown eyes. She was absolutely gorgeous – exotic looking. She seemed to be of Asian heritage, due to the slight tilt of her eyes, and was very slender and quite short; Violet was almost the exact same size, (if only a couple of inches taller) – something she immediately made a comment on ("Look! We've got someone as small as I am now!"). Lucy Hurst had shoulder length curly black hair and large, dark eyes. She was very bold and loud and could almost be called obnoxiously courageous. The two of them joined in on the introductions as they packed away their things, but eventually quietened and collapsed into their own conversation as time went on.

After spending nearly half an hour laughing hysterically with Mary and Marlene, the door opened again and the red-headed girl from before walked in, looking exhausted, shutting the door behind her and leaning on it.

Lily immediately spotted Violet and stood up straighter, a smile lighting up her tired green eyes. "Hi, you must be Violet. I'm -"

"Lily Evans, the love of James Potter's life, I know," Violet said.

Lily stared open mouthed for a second as Mary and Marlene laughed. "How do you know about James Potter's crush on me?"

Violet smiled and shrugged. "He mentioned it as soon as he saw you after dinner."

Lily shook her head exasperatedly. "You've been here all of five minutes and you already know about that."

Violet shrugged. "If it helps, I think he genuinely likes you."

Lily snorted. "I really doubt it." She moved to the only empty bed, on the other side of Marlene, began changing out of her robes.

Violet turned with raised eyebrows to Mary and Marlene.

"She's in denial," Marlene whispered. Mary giggled and Violet cracked a smile. "Where were you anyway, Lily?" Marlene asked, raising her voice.

At this, Lily froze in the middle off unbuttoning her shirt but then continued a second later. "Professor Dumbledore just needed to talk to the Head Boy and Girl and the prefects about some things."

"Like?" Marlene said expectantly.

"Just some things that we needed to keep in mind when we're patrolling the corridors at night and … things," Lily said vaguely, flopping onto her bed. "Sorry to be a pain, but can we go to sleep straight away tonight? I know we usually sit up and hang out the first night back, but I'm just so tired."

"You aren't even going to unpack?" Mary asked concernedly.

Lily rolled over and stared at them. "It doesn't look like you guys have done much unpacking anyway."

Mary, Marlene and Violet immediately looked guilty. "Sorry," Marlene said. "That may have been my fault."

* * *

Violet walked down to breakfast that morning with Marlene, Mary and Lily. She had awakened earlier to the sounds of Amber jumping from Lucy's bed back to hers, holding a mascara stick. From there she jumped down and ran into the bathroom, where Marlene and Lucy also were, crowded around the long mirror.

Violet glared at them before rolling over and facing Lily, one bed over.

"Are they always like this in the morning?" Violet asked.

"Yes, unfortunately," Lily replied, sitting up. "You get used to it though. And you'll never need an alarm clock."

Although it was admittedly convenient, Violet shuddered at the thought of waking up to them chattering in the bathroom every day.

They entered the Great Hall and seated themselves at the Gryffindor table and began eating, as the timetables had begun getting passed down. Violet's arrived just as she took a bite of toast. Absentmindedly, she read over it, memorising her day quickly, then turned to pass Lily's timetable too her but instead, found herself face to face with Sirius Black.

"I could have sworn Lily was right next to me," Violet said, after swallowing her toast.

Lily's head popped around Sirius' back. "I was, but Sirius insisted on squeezing in next to you while you were reading," Lily said, rolling her eyes.

Violet looked around the table, realising the Marauders had all managed to slip themselves in between the girls, then back at Sirius, who was grinning widely at her. "Okay," Violet said, a smile creeping onto her face at the four boys' ridiculously innocent expressions. "Lily, here." She handed Lily's timetable over to her, past Sirius, before turning back to her breakfast.

"Can I see your timetable?" Sirius asked. Without looking at him, Violet passed Sirius her timetable.

He compared it to his own and announced, "We have potions, charms, transfiguration, defense, divination and one free together."

Violet was about to reply excitedly when a voice cut in.

"Divination?" Lily said incredulously. "Vi, what were you thinking when you chose that?"

"I was thinking that all I had to do was be tragic all the time and I'd be set," Violet retorted. "And I was right. I was top of the class back at Beauxbatons."

"Finally … someone else gets it!" Sirius muttered.

Lily snorted.

Violet turned back to Sirius. "What's your other class?"

"Muggle studies. I figured it would piss off my parents the most," Sirius answered.

"Oh. Do you enjoy pissing off your parents?" Violet asked.

"Very much so," Sirius replied. "Arrogant pureblood supremacists, the lot of them."

"Sounds like You-Know-Who's following," Violet said, looking down at her nearly empty plate.

"They're as close as you can get to Death Eaters without actually being called Death Eaters," Sirius said quietly, loading his plate with food.

Their conversation had gone on unnoticed by their friends, who were laughing and talking amongst themselves. Violet noticed James talking across the table to Lily who was listening with a slight smile on her face. Doesn't like him my ass, she thought, despite the sobriety that had settled over her and Sirius.

* * *

Weeks went by in a flurry her new friends and schoolwork and waking up to laughter and squealing from Marlene, Amber and Lucy, and soon Halloween was just a week away. A Hogsmeade trip was announced on the Halloween, which everyone was looking forward too. Violet, who'd never been to Hogsmeade, was listening to the others talk about the trip on the morning of the 31st of October, with interest, feeling her excitement grow.

After breakfast, three of the four marauders (Peter was on a date) and Violet's dormitory (with the exception of Mary, Amber and Marlene, who were also all on dates) left the castle and walked down the path to Hogsmeade together.

Lily linked arms with Lucy and Violet and asked me, "Where would you like to go first, Vi?"

Violet, who really had no idea, shrugged. "Just go wherever you guys want to go and I'll follow."

Lily looked uncertainly at Lucy then at the Sirius, James and Remus, who had insisted on tagging along.

"Well, I needed to get more quills. I've already ruined half of mine," Lucy said. "So I'd like to go to Scrivenshafts first." Out of the corner of her eye, Lily saw the three marauders make faces.

"How about I go with you, Lucy, and Vi can go with James, Sirius and Remus to … Honeydukes or something," Lily said quickly.

Vi looked at the grinning Marauders and found her excitement returning. "Sounds good," she grinned.

They made it to the centre of Hogsmeade together, where Lucy and Lily turned off into a quieter street. James, Sirius and Remus continued down the main road with Violet, and only a minute later they were entering the sweet shop.

"Wow," Violet said, stopping in the doorway in awe.

James grinned at her amazed expression. "Violet, meet Honeydukes. I'm sure you'll be very happy together."

"Can we just stay in here all day?" Violet asked, as a delighted James pulled Remus to the colourful stands advertising a new flavour of chocolate Droobles Best Blowing Gum by the counter.

Sirius barked a laughed. "You've got a sweet tooth then?"

"A bit," Violet admitted with a laugh. "I want to see everything."

"Let's start over this side," Sirius said, grabbing Violet by the hand and pulling her to the far side of the shop, where the shelves were as high as the ceiling and lined with jars of confectionery. "And since it's your first time, I'll buy you anything you want."

"You don't have to do that, Sirius. I do have money."

"It's my treat."

"But aren't you-" Violet paused mid-sentence, unsure if she should continue.

"Aren't I what?" Sirius asked.

"Never mind. But I can buy my own stuff, Sirius, it's fine."

"No, now I'm curious. Tell me," Sirius pulled Violet back again when she tried to move away.

"I … I don't want to upset you or anything," she said hesitantly.

"Come on, out with it," Sirius replied, beginning to get worried.

"It's just that … James said that you ran away from home this summer and your parents had disinherited you so you were living with him and … I just don't want you to spend any money on buying me a few sweets when you have more important things to spend it on," Violet said, speaking so fast that a couple of her words blurred together.

Sirius stared at her for a moment, his mouth in a tight line. He let go of her hand and ran it through his hair. Violet stared fixedly at a jar of strawberry peppermint drops, afraid to look up and see him angry at her.

"Prongs … shouldn't have said anything," Sirius said, after a long silence.

"Don't blame him," Violet jumped in quickly. "I asked him about it. Your brother… Regulus, right?" Sirius nodded. "I passed him in the corridor with a few other Slytherins a week or two ago. He must of seen us together and he … he asked what it was like to have a homeless friend. And so I asked James about it."

"What exactly did James tell you?" Sirius asked.

"That you couldn't take your family being so … enthused about You-Know-Who and the death eaters and that you had to leave for good. And that you live with him now, though your Uncle, who also doesn't share your families beliefs, has said in his will that when he dies you'll get everything he owns."

Sirius nodded slowly, but his face was still pained. "Well, you are my friend, so I guess it is okay that you know." A little shiver went through Violet at the word friend. She was so lonely and confused after her mother had gone, that she'd felt completely disconnected and ostracized from her previous friendships at Beauxbatons. "You should also know that my Uncle is going to die soon. He has an incurable disease that means he probably won't last the year."So I'll be inheriting a pretty decent amount of money. A small fortune, in fact." Sirius smiled half-heartedly. "So don't worry about me, ok?"

Violet pursued her lips, not entirely willing to let go of her worrying. "If you say so. But how about you just pay half instead?"

Sirius rolled his eyes at her compromise. "Alright, Vi. I _will_ find another way to treat you today though."

They began browsing the shelves and every so often, Violet would pick something out that she wanted to try.

"That's not the only reason I left, you know," Sirius said quietly to her, when they were in the middle isle, right in the centre of the store.

"Sorry?"

"Home. Why I left home. I didn't just leave because they agree with You-Know-Who."

"What was the other reason?" Violet asked, turning to face Sirius completely.

Sirius tried to smile but failed. "I was … scared that one day they would all actually join the death eaters and take part in the riots and kidnappings, and then they'd hurt me, because, let's be honest, from their point of view, I am a blood traitor. The worst kind," Sirius paused looking down. "I feel like such a coward for admitting to it. I'm supposed to be in Gryffindor, for Merlin's sake!"

Violet took his hand in one of her own. "There's a difference between being brave and being stupid. No matter the reason, you did the right thing leaving home. You stuck by what you believed in and you acted on it. You took a risk to hopefully lead a better life. And that's what's brave."

Sirius swallowed deeply. He looked at her and opened his mouth to say something, but instead laughed shakily. "It's funny. You've just made me feel so much better."

"Well, have you told anyone else this?"

"No. You're the first," Sirius replied.

Violet laughed and shook her head exasperatedly. "That's probably why! No one else has had the opportunity to make you feel better!"

"Still…" Sirius insisted, smiling more naturally now. He pulled her into a hug, pressing his smile into her neck. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Violet said, hugging him tightly back.

Sirius opened his eyes and happened to look outside the clear Honeydukes windows just when he needed too. He let go of the hug quickly and pulled a startled Violet back to the back corner of the shop.

"Sirius! What-"

"Shh!" he said, peeking around the corner. "It's Alexa Payne, the Hufflepuff fifth year I snogged in an empty classroom about a week or two ago!"

Violet rolled her eyes. If there was one thing she'd learned about Sirius, it was that every now and then, he could turn into a bit of a womaniser. Fortunately, it didn't seem to be a regular occurrence. "So? I don't even know who that is."

"So, Violet, my naïve, innocent friend -" Violet snorted. "- she's basically been stalking me ever since! Everywhere I go she just pops up, acting like we're a couple now! Holding hands, asking about dates … it was just a snog!"

"Maybe you should've told her that before you went ahead and snogged her," Violet suggested, leaning against a wall, examining the packaging of the few sweets she'd chosen.

Sirius rounded on

* * *

her, his face so serious that Violet nearly laughed. "Violet, you don't understand-"

"Sirius! There you are." A pretty, curvaceous girl with a light smattering of freckles, shoulder-length chocolate brown hair and honey brown eyes wearing a Hufflepuff scarf, jeans and green coat, rushed over. "I know we didn't organise anything but I was hoping I'd find you so we could make this our first – oh! Who's this?" She turned her eyes to Violet, taking in her short, but slender frame, thick golden blonde hair pushed back behind her ears, elfin-looking face and steady blue eyes. Alexa's eyes narrowed as her smile grew wider.

"I'm Violet. I'm a Gryffindor in Sirius' year," Violet said, speaking over Sirius, who'd begun to talk.

"Violet's actually new to Hogwarts, so I was just showing her around Hogsmeade. I should probably get back to it," Sirius said apologetically.

"Oh no!" Violet said, a mischievous smile lighting her face. "Don't let me stop you two! I'll just find James and Remus and they can finish showing me around."

"Really?"

"Really?"

It's funny how two words, exactly the same, simultaneously said, could convey the exact opposite of each other. Alexa looked hopeful, brightening considerably as she realised that Sirius and this strange new girl weren't on a date. Sirius, however, looked like he was ready to throw Violet into the cockroach cluster stand.

"Really," Violet said, still smiling. "Sirius, I guess I'll see you back at the castle. Have a good time!" And with that she walked off, leaving Sirius staring open mouthed at the back of her head as she left.

* * *

**Reviews would be lovely. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you to the people who reviewed, favourited or followed this! I didn't really expect anyone to on the first day I posted it, so it was such a nice surprise! Without further ado, chapter three!**

* * *

"Bloody Alexa Payne," Sirius grumbled as he stomped into the Gryffindor common room late that afternoon. "Bloody Violet Bryce."

"Hi Padfoot," James said cheerily from the armchair, as Sirius collapsed into a sitting position front of the fire. "How was your date with Alexa?"

Sirius glared at him. "I never want to see her ever again. All she does is gossip. And she dragged me to that bloody café where all the couples go for that disgusting coffee stuff that muggles drink!"

"I have to admit, I was surprised when Vi said you'd gone on a date with her," Remus added from his armchair.

"Bloody Violet," Sirius said, for what had to have been the sixth time since he'd said goodbye to Alexa in the Entrance Hall. "I told her that Alexa was just a one time snog gone wrong and Vi just goes and encourages her! Alexa was already making plans for our second date on the way back here! And her bloody fifth year friends followed us all the way back giggling and whispering and …" Sirius paused to compose himself. "I never want to do that again."

"Aw, poor Sirius," Violet said. Sirius jumped, and saw Violet had appeared, sitting on the arm of Remus' chair looking amused. "I'm sorry. I just couldn't help myself." James and Remus sniggered but stopped quickly when Sirius whipped his head around to glare at them.

"Why did you do that to me?" Sirius asked.

"Oh come on," Violet said, taking a seat beside him in front of the fire. "It was too good of an opportunity! You looked so awkward! And Alexa looked so eager," Violet laughed. "Besides, what was I supposed to do? She was glaring daggers at me because she thought _we_ were on a date! I don't want to be dragged into some fifteen year old girls' drama!"

Sirius sighed heavily, rubbing his face with his hands. Violet felt a tiny twinge of guilt.

"I am sorry though," she said.

"Well now you have to help me fix … this …" Sirius trailed off, staring at her, a light dawning in his eyes. "I'll only accept your apology if you help me to fix this."

Violet pouted and frowned. "Fine, I guess. Since I really am sor-"

"Great! Pretend to be my girlfriend, every time we're around Alexa," Sirius said.

"WHAT?" Remus and James burst out laughing at the expression on Violet's face. "Did you not just hear what I said?"

"Well, I said I didn't want to go on a date with Alexa and you made me go off with her! If you do this we're even! Come on, it'll just be every time she's around, so maybe in hallways in between classes sometimes and at meals! It'll be easy!"

Violet sighed. "_Merlin_. Now I'M regretting making you go on a date with her."

"It's just to get her off my back," Sirius said. "It shouldn't take long. No longer than a week anyway."

"Oh merde," Violet muttered, swearing in French, a habit she'd picked up living nearly half her life in France. "Alright. Whatever. But nothing too touchy feel-y. Like snogging in corridors in front of everyone. Just … holding hands and things, right?"

"Right," Sirius said enthusiastically. "Although, if you're feeling up to a spot of-"

"No."

"Oh, fine."

* * *

Breakfast on Monday morning was when Sirius and Violet officially started fake dating. Violet hadn't told her friends about what was happening, so it was a big surprise to them when, instead of sitting sandwiched in between two of them, she went straight to Sirius's side. James dutifully moved over to make room, failing to suppress a grin. Remus, too, was shaking his head and smiling, while Peter (surprisingly) was the only one able to keep a modestly straight face. He broke out into an enormous smirk, however, at the girls' faces when Violet sat beside Sirius and he put an arm around her waist.

"I think I speak for all of us when I ask when this happened?" Amber said, as she and the others sat down themselves, staring open-mouthed at Violet and Sirius.

"You didn't tell them?" Sirius asked Violet, surprised.

Violet shrugged. "Slipped my mind, I guess."

Remus chuckled and Peter snorted.

"No, really…" Amber continued. Violet saw she glanced quickly at Lucy, who looked both gobsmacked and murderous. Something about her reaction clicked in Violet's mind and she hurried to explain.

"We're not really together," Violet said. "It's just to get some girl off of Sirius' back."

"The Hufflepuff fifth year I walked in on you making out with in that empty classroom on third floor? Alexa, or something?" Marlene asked. Sirius nodded. "Ah yes. Well, she's known to be a bit clingy. Did she expect it to be different for her? That you two would fall in love and get married and have mini Sirius'?"

"Something like that," Sirius shuddered.

Marlene tutted, before returning to her breakfast.

"That's a bit mean isn't it though?" Lily said. "Why don't you just tell her you don't want to go out with her?"

"Because she's not the kind of girl you can do that too," Sirius said. "She's the type who'll think you're joking and deny you're being serious or she'll get really mad and hex you into oblivion!" Marlene nodded in agreement.

"It's true, Lily," Violet interjected. "You should've seen the way she was glaring at me when she thought_ I_ was on a date with him!"

Lily sighed, shaking her head. "Maybe this will teach you not to choose girls at random to use when you feel like a snog."

"Hey, I don't do this kind of things _that_ often! And I don't force them into anything!" Sirius exclaimed. "It's not my fault people can't resist my charm and good looks."

"Fantastic. People are going to think I'm dating this prick," Violet said sullenly.

"It's only for a week," Sirius smirked, leaning in closer. "Darling."

Violet looked at him in the eye with an exaggerated simpering smile and said, "I want to vomit."

"You brought this on yourself, babe."

"Well, I must hate myself."

"I know you told me all the way through the Halloween feast yesterday."

"Hey Lily, maybe we should try this. Violet and Sirius are already getting along like an old married couple and their relationship is fake," James suggested.

"We bicker enough already," Lily said. "So… no." She then proceeded to engage Remus, Lucy and Mary in a conversation, ignoring James completely.

"Well, I tried," James sighed. "There's always tomorrow."

"Keep believing, Prongs," Sirius told him, leaning across Vi too speak directly to him. "I have faith that one day you two will end up-"

Sirius was cut off by a shriek. Everybody nearby turned to look at a Hufflepuff girl with her ash blonde hair in two braids sprint out of the Hall.

"I think that was one of Alexa's friends," Sirius said hopefully.

"I think it was you two that made her shriek," Peter told him. "I saw her spot the two of you when she walked in."

"Excellent," Sirius grinned, squeezing Violet's waist gently, as if to say good job.

"If you get her to hate you earlier than a week, can we stop pretending?" Violet asked.

For some reason, Sirius' stomach did an unpleasant flip at her words. "If that's what you want," he smirked, leaning in closer, attempting to cover up his hesitation through confidence and flirting.

"Definitely," Violet replied, with a cheeky smile that drove Sirius mad – wait, drove Sirius mad? Sirius pushed the thought out of his mind, as Violet continued eating, unaware that a million thoughts were running through his head.

James noticed Sirius' almost shell-shocked face and sent him a questioning look. Sirius shook himself and reassured James with a smile, before returning to his own food.

* * *

"So, between every class we have to hold hands, in case she or one of her friends sees us?" Violet said, as Sirius swung their entwined hands between them as they walked to Divination.

"Yep," Sirius said. "We can't risk not looking like a couple where she might see us … even for a second."

Violet's hand felt particularly small in Sirius', and warm too. "You know I've been getting few looks from quite a few other people too," she said airily. Sirius was good looking, she'd admit that. With dark hair that fell into his clear grey eyes, a charming smirk and his confident stance, he was easily one of the most attractive people in the school. "One girl in the year above, a Ravenclaw, even came up to me after Ancient Runes and asked if I knew what I was getting into when I said yes to dating you."

Sirius frowned. "What did she look like?"

"Red hair, blue eyes, ridiculously tall… I think she said her name was Clara or something," Violet said.

"Oh I know Clara, sort of. Her friend, Jacqueline and I had a thing in last year."

"Hm," was all Violet said.

As they entered the heavily incensed divination classroom and sat down, Sirius realised there was something wrong. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," Violet said, a little quickly to be fine.

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked.

Violet turned and smiled, almost automatically. It was so well practiced, so scarily robotic, that it gave Sirius a small jolt. "Nothing, Sirius." Behind her eyes, Sirius could see wheels turning. He was going to speak again, but was interrupted by Professor Thenaider, who began talking about refreshing the "eye" by working on dream interpretation.

"Partner up!" He said, taking a seat in the red leather armchair. "Interpret each other's dreams – but try to use the book as little as possible! You're NEWT students now! Let your inner eye_ feel_ what the symbols are first … _harness_ that potential … And then check your interpretation with the books to see how accurate your sight is."

"Vi-" Sirius began.

"Are we partners?"

"Yes, of course."

"Ok. Can you go first? I can never remember my dreams," Violet lied.

"… You really want to do the dream interpretation?" Sirius asked incredulously.

Violet couldn't lie about that. "Not really," she admitted.

"Can we talk about what's upset you?" Sirius asked.

"No."

"So there is something!"

_Damn_, Violet swore internally, though her face did not betray her.

"Please tell me!" Sirius begged.

Violet sighed heavily, almost angrily, but gave in. "Alright fine. Do you know how many people have come up to me today to tell me too watch out, because Sirius Black's girlfriends don't last long?" She paused and gave Sirius a moment to think. "Four. Since breakfast. Honestly, what you do with your time isn't my business, and if you want to go around snogging everything in sight, that's fine; but you've dragged me into it now!"

"Most of what people say is exaggerated." Sirius said. "I haven't even snogged half the girls people say-"

"It doesn't matter Sirius, because it's what people believe," Vi cut him off. "I know I said I'd help you but people are staring at me like I'm a cripple or something."

Sirius looked down guiltily. He'd be lying if he said he didn't know what people said. He didn't care most of the time but now ... he hadn't thought about how making Violet act as a fake girlfriend would affect her. "Sorry. I didn't think."

"I'm aware of that."

"There's no need to be nasty about it!"

Violet glared at him. "Just … can we do this whole thing quickly so I can deny we ever went out in the first place? And hopefully salvage my reputation and stop fourteen year old girls from glaring at me in jealously whenever I walk past?"

Sirius looked confused. "Fourteen year olds? Glaring at you because they think you're my girlfriend?"

"Yes," Violet replied stonily.

"What have you said to people so far?" Sirius asked. "When they come up to you and say not to date me?"

"I mostly just look confused and say 'um, ok' because that can be taken whatever way they want it too."

"Hey, that's smart because it means when this ends, you can just deny you ever went out with me in the first place!" Sirius said encouragingly. "Hopefully Alexa's friend told Alexa about this morning, and she finds us together soon. Today, even!" Sirius grinned.

Violet rolled her eyes, but smiled, in spite of herself. "You're so optimistic."

"You're so pessimistic."

"I am not." Violet replied, affronted.

"If you say so."

* * *

"We haven't seen her all day, Sirius," Violet said, as the pair left the Charms classroom together. They had a free period now, in the last class of the day, and they left their friends behind as they all headed to their own respective classes.

"It's odd," Sirius agreed. "Usually she'll just pop out of places all over the castle."

Violet sighed, wanting to change the subject. "Can we go outside today? I don't want to stay in the library or in a classroom."

"Sure. But can we go back to the dormitories first so I can grab my packet of smokes then?" Sirius asked.

Violet rolled her eyes. "I still can't believe you smoke, but ok. I can get my cloak then too."

They rushed up the stairs to Gryffindor tower, where Sirius bounded up the stairs to the boys' dormitory and Violet darted up to the girls' to retrieve her cloak.

They both came back down quickly and dashed down the many staircases, before exiting the castle, heading out onto the open grass by the lake. Violet chose an old twisted tree with widespread roots near the lakes edge to sit against, half sheltered from the chilly, early November wind. In the near distance, they could see Professor Kettleburn teaching a class by the edge of the forest.

Violet pulled the spare cloak over her legs and huddled against the tree, finding a place to fit perfectly comfortable against the root to her left, the tree trunk and Sirius, who sat beside her.

"We aren't pretending to be together now, are we?" Violet asked after a moment where they both sat staring, side by side, at the lake and the class in the distance.

Sirius shook his head. "Nah. Friends can sit like this, right? We can just be normal now."

Violet smiled. "Good."

Sirius pulled his packet of cigarettes and offered one to Vi, who said, "You know I don't smoke." He shrugged, took one for himself and shoved the packet back into the pocket of his robes. He took out his wand, tapped the end of the cigarette and muttered, "Incendio", lighting it up. Violet watched as he took a long drag, than breathed out a long tendril of curling white smoke.

"I feel like this is the first time I've slowed down and done nothing since I got here," Violet said, pulling her legs closer to her, in an attempt to get warmer.

Sirius nodded in agreement. "Time at Hogwarts flies. It's weird thinking that next year will be my last year."

"I haven't even been here a half a year and I feel like I've gone to school here for an eternity," Violet admitted. "And it's so far away from everything I've grown up with … it's nice."

Sirius gave her an odd look, but if Violet noticed she pretended not too. Instead, they fell into silence again, the class' chattering carrying along the water filling the space around them.

"Why do you smoke so much?" Violet asked.

"I don't smoke that much," Sirius protested. "I'm not addicted."

Violet rolled her eyes. "Why do you smoke then?"

"Have you ever tried smoking before?" Sirius questioned.

"Nope."

"Oh, ok. Well, I guess it just relaxes me. Not for very long though, unfortunately. But for a bit you do just really loosen up. Apparently there are muggle things you can smoke that are stronger. We learned about them in Muggle Studies."

"Oh."

"You can ... try this, if you want?" Sirius said, offering her his cigarette.

Surprisingly, after a moment, Violet took it from him and held it daintly between her thumb and forefinger. "How do I do it?"

"Here hold it like this." He moved the cigarette so she now held it between her forefinger and middle finger, his fingers brushing her fingers and the palm of her hand gently. "Just put your lips on the coloured bit … and then sort of … puff on it and then inhale and hold it for a second … and then breathe out."

Violet did and spluttered as the smoke unfurled from her mouth and nose. She looked at him with an annoyed look. "That tasted absolutely disgusting."

Sirius laughed. "You get used to it."

"Why would you want too?" Violet asked incredulously.

"I told you why," Sirius said, still grinning, plucking the cigarette from her fingertips.

"There are better ways to relax and loosen up," Violet said, and for a second Sirius thought she'd say something like 'having a bubble bath with two dozen scented candles'. "Firewhiskey, for instance."

"Well I don't see any firewhiskey around here, do you?"

"No, but I know you and James and Peter and Remus could get some," Violet retorted. "Don't pretend you don't know secret ways out of the castle, I know you do. I've overheard you talking about them."

That got Sirius' attention. "When did you hear that?"

"Never you mind. If you wanted firewhiskey, you could get it."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I suppose. But I don't need firewhiskey right now. I need a smoke." And with that he promptly shut up and took another long drag.

Violet rolled her eyes and rested her head on Sirius' shoulder, closing her eyes. It'd been a long day. She was comfortable and warm and Sirius' shoulder made a surprisingly good pillow and she was just drifting off when she heard someone shriek "SIRIUS BLACK!" Violet started, struggling to open her eyes.

"Oh hello Alexa!" Sirius replied cheerily.

"What are you doing?" Alexa demanded.

"Where the hell did you come from?" Violet asked groggily.

"Shut up!" Alexa snapped.

"Whoa, hey … relax! It's a good question," Sirius said, pulling himself to his feet.

"I was on my way back to the castle from care of magical creatures class, if you have to know. Now why don't you answer my question Sirius … What are you doing with HER?"

"Oh, erm, well-" Sirius began.

"I can't believe you're sneaking around with her!" Alexa practically screeched. "We've only been going out for a week!"

Violet tried not to snort and she could see Sirius roll his eyes and protest weakly. "Technically we were never-"

"I am SO sorry I didn't listen to Jenny when she said what she saw this morning in the Great Hall. Because it would've saved me a lot of heartbreak," Alexa exclaimed angrily.

"What? A day's heartbreak?" Violet said.

"I thought I told you to shut UP?"

"Don't speak to her like that!" Sirius said, backing up to Violet.

"Why should I listen to you, you stupid GIT?" She took a deep, shuddering breath. "I can't believe I thought it would be different with you. But you used me just like you use everyone else!" With that, Alexa stormed off, to some friends waiting on the path up to Hogwarts.

Sirius and Violet stared after her in a stunned silence for a moment. "Well," Sirius finally said.

"Wow," Violet replied.

Sirius realised his limbs were, in fact, working, and he gathered Violet's cloak so she could stand up. "I didn't even have to say you were my girlfriend. She just assumed it."

"This is great!" Violet beamed. "Now we can stop being all loved up whenever we're with other people!"

"Oh yeah. That too," Sirius agreed. "The offer for a snog still stands though, if you ever want too-"

* * *

**Review, maybe? **


	4. Chapter 4

A week later, Violet sat in the Great Hall with Lucy, Lily and Mary, pointedly ignoring the fifth year Hufflepuff girls' glares, dressed in the Gryffindor house colours for the quidditch match against Hufflepuff. Amber and Marlene sat further along the table, with James, Sirius and the rest of the Gryffindor team.

"Are those girls going to continue staring murderously at you for the rest of your life?" Lily asked, interrupting Lucy, who'd been talking about a charms essay.

Violet casually turned around and let her eyes pass over the girls, who'd now also been joined by a few other Gryffindor and Ravenclaw fifth years.

"Bloody hell, they've grown in numbers," Mary said, also looking.

Violet turned back around to face her friends to see that they were all staring openly at the group. "You guys are so subtle," she said exasperatedly, and they all came to their senses and looked away quickly. "I expect they'll get over it this time next week. If not, I can live with it."

"All because they thought you were dating Sirius Black…" Lily shook her head. "Have most of them even spoken to him?"

"I don't know," Violet told her truthfully. "And I think it's a bit more than that. They think I knowingly was with Sirius despite him supposedly dating Alexa Kyle. Even if she says they were only together for a week."

Lily sighed. "I swear I was never that obsessed with boys last year."

"That's because you had James Potter fawning all over you and asking you out every second of the day for about three years," Mary giggled.

Lily allowed herself a small smile. "I suppose that was a contributing factor." She paused and surveyed him, talking seriously to his team, for a second. "He hasn't been so obsessively persistent ever since …" she trailed off.

Lucy and Mary both grew quiet, while Violet looked at them, surprised at the suddenly solemn atmosphere. "Ever since what?" Violet asked.

The three girls exchanged glances. Lucy spoke first, "Last year, Lily's old friend from Slytherin got into a fight with Black and Potter-"

"They started it," Lily interjected. "Potter and Black."

Lucy acknowledged this with a nod. "Yes. Lily tried to help her friend … but he got angry that she was trying to help him 'fight his battles' and there was some name calling and then Potter tried to defend her … and it was just very messy."

"Who was the friend?" Violet asked curiously.

Lily sighed. "Severus Snape. We met before Hogwarts. I didn't know how I doing all these strange things, you see, and he lived nearby and noticed me doing them and told me all about magic and Hogwarts and the Ministry and … everything, really."

"What could've been so terrible that you aren't friends with him anymore?" Violet asked.

"You know how Slytherins are – about blood purity," Lily said. "He called me a … a mudblood." Violet's eyes darkened and her mouth tightened in anger. "Sev … Snape always said he was different but I … I guess I could tell he wasn't really, since he called every muggleborn a mudblood, except me. He said it just slipped out but …" She swallowed, staring down at her plate. "Either way it doesn't matter. Point is, it opened my eyes to a lot of things I'd just refused to see. And we haven't properly talked since he tried apologising."

Her words hung heavily in the air, tainting the sounds of excitement around them.

"It makes me so angry that people use the most ridiculous things as an excuse for hate," Violet eventually said, her thoughts on her mother, and what had occurred the beginning of summer.

"I agree," Lucy said, her dark eyes hardening.

For a few seconds, the four girls sat together in silence, pondering their conversation. Then Mary looked around and noticed that more than half of the Great Hall had left for the match.

"We'd better get going," Mary said, standing up. "If we want good seats anyway."

The other three looked around and realised how late they were. They hurriedly picked up their things and pulled on their coats and gloves, due to the overcast sky that the Great Hall was projecting above them, linked arms and walked down to the quidditch pitch.

* * *

Violet sat beside Lily and Mary amongst the other Gryffindors and while they were waiting, allowed Mary draw on tribal style Gryffindor lines on her face.

The wind picked up and Violet pulled down on her beanie even further. "If the wind stays this strong, will they cancel the match?" Violet asked Lily.

Lily looked at her quite seriously and said, "They never cancel quidditch here. Never."

* * *

Violet cheered with the other Gryffindors as James Potter scored Gryffindor's tenth goal. They were currently in the lead by twenty points, and the game had been going on for just over an hour. Rain had also just begun to sprinkle.

Beside her, Lily also cheered, but Violet could tell that she was beginning to get bored.

Proving her deduction correct, Lily said, "I hope someone catches the snitch soon. I can't wait to get inside."

"I agree," Lucy said, from across Lily. "But I hope Gryffindor wins. I want a party."

As if waiting for their conversation to happen, the Hufflepuff seeker dived for the snitch and Amber, the Gryffindor seeker, soon caught on, speeding along not far behind. Immediately, everyone screamed and cheered even louder then before, and even the commentator, a Hufflepuff seventh year, couldn't be properly heard anymore.

Sirius, who was a beater, aimed a bludger at the Hufflepuff seeker. It missed by inches, but distracted the seeker for a second long enough that Amber was able to properly catch up, and they were now neck and neck.

The screaming grew to a crescendo in the Gryffindor section as the two seekers swooped over them, arms outstretched. It could now be seen that Amber was only ahead by an inch – but James had told Violet several times that an inch could make all the difference.

And indeed it did. If Sirius' bludger hadn't missed the Hufflepuff seeker by an inch, he wouldn't have been distracted enough to allow Amber to gain on him, and then take a lead by an inch – and ultimately, it was that inch gain that meant it was Amber's hand closing over the snitch, and the Hufflepuff's scraping desperately over her glove.

The stadium erupted and the Gryffindor team were shouting and hugging mid air, as the Hufflepuff's slowly dropped to the ground and left the field looked disappointed and downtrodden.

Violet followed Mary, Lucy and Lily out onto the pitch with the other Gryffindors into the crowd, all cheering around Amber, who was still holding the snitch in the air, grinning widely as about fifty people tried to embrace her at once.

Sirius found Violet in the crowd, where he picked her up and hugged her, spinning her around and around, laughing, before joining James and the others who were already running full speed up to Hogwarts.

* * *

"You didn't even bother getting changed," Violet said, amused, to James and Sirius, when they entered the common room, after the pair of them and Remus and Peter had disappeared mysteriously just after the party started.

James grinned and shrugged, "Hold this for me will you," he said, handing her a silky, silvery cloak, "but don't put it on."

The four of them darted up to the boys staircase, holding their mysteriously bulky robes, and because Violet was curious, she followed them, leaving Lily and Alice McCain, a friendly seventh year, by the food table, talking.

She pushed open the boys' door and saw them unloading their pockets and bags.

"Is that firewhiskey?" Violet asked from the doorway, watching the four of them jump at her words.

"Merlin, Vi!" Sirius exclaimed. "What if we'd been getting changed?"

Violet smirked. "Would you be embarrassed, Sirius?"

"Definitely not. The real question is would you be able to resist me, Violet?"

Violet snorted. "You bet I would."

"Anyway," Remus interrupted loudly. He took the cloak from Vi and threw it to James, who reverently folded it and placed it in his trunk. "Next time, knock," Remus smiled.

"Not a problem," Violet said. "But you didn't answer my question. Is that firewhiskey, and are you sharing, because even for you four, that is a lot of alcohol."

"Of course we're sharing!" Peter exclaimed.

"The real victory party starts tonight, when the young'uns are in bed," Sirius said.

"Yeah," James agreed. "We don't want them getting the wrong idea, or anything."

"Or turning out like you lot," Violet agreed.

"Or you!" Sirius said defensively. "Since you'll be coming."

Violet raised her eyebrows. "Will I?"

"There'll be firewhiskey! And more!" Sirius exclaimed.

There was a pause. "Well, I guess I can make an appearance."

* * *

At midnight, the turntable was loudly playing some song by The Cockatrices, a relatively new wizard rock band that was slowly gaining popularity. The Head Boy, Frank Longbottom, stood by the table where the drinks were being passed around, reminding people not to overindulge and be careful with how much they drank. The crowd consisted of mostly sixth and seventh years, but there were a couple of fifth years as well, who looked tentative more than anything.

"How on EARTH do you keep the other years from hearing this?" Violet asked Sirius, walking over to him, mostly steady on her feet.

"Muffliato," Sirius grinned, already tipsy. We cast it all around the common room and the portrait hole, and as long as every couple of hours, someone 'members to recast it, we're good."

Violet wondered why she didn't think of that earlier, but shook it off and went to get another drink. When she got to the table, Frank stopped her. "You've already had two, Violet!"

"But Frank …" Violet whined, pouting. "How many opportunities am I going to have-"

"No Vi! I'm Head Boy, so my rules! I'm not having you passing out on the floor!" Frank exclaimed.

"I know my limits!"

"I don't care! Shoo! Let that wear off first!"

Violet sighed dramatically and walked crookedly to an armchair by the fire.

Remus was in the one beside her, sipping contentedly from a cup himself. "Are you alright?"

"No. Frank won't let me have another drink," Violet pouted.

"Well you have had two and it hasn't even been an hour," Remus pointed out.

"So?"

"So … maybe slow down a bit," Remus suggested. "You know what the teachers will say on Monday morning if anyone turns up still suffering a hangover."

Violet sighed again and slid down the chair, muttering obscenities about the so-called teachers.

It had been over an hour since Violet had gotten denied her next drink. Grumpily she could see that James and Sirius and Peter hadn't gotten denied any. Peter was squished in a corner with some fifth year Gryffindor girl, Sirius was dancing with Lucy Hurst and James was surrounded by no less than three firewhiskey bottles and was onto his fourth, glaring moodily at Lily Evans chatting amicably to a handsome seventh year Gryffindor boy, whose name Violet didn't know.

She didn't want to interrupt Peter and the fifth year girl (she had a feeling Peter only got lucky once and a while), Sirius dancing with Lucy made her feel hollow inside and lonely, Remus was being boring by the fire, talking quietly to Amber, and Lily and the seventh boy were getting along very well, so Violet decided to chance it with James.

She hopped up onto the window seat next to him. He barely acknowledged her before speaking.

"What does she see in him?" James asked, his speech slightly slurred. "What does he have that I haven't?"

Violet shrugged. "She probably hasn't talked to him properly before, so she's interested in getting to know him. Did Frank let you have all those drinks?"

"Yes. Am I interesting?" James asked.

"You're very interesting James. Why didn't Frank let me have any more to drink when he let you lot?"

"Well we brang the drinks Vi," James said, flopping back against the window.

"Wonderful English," Violet said dryly.

"Jus' … use accio or somethin'," James said.

Violet nearly hit herself for not thinking of this before. "Accio firewhiskey bottle," she whispered, and the one she aimed at jumped off the table and zoomed sharply towards her, through the legs of the other Gryffindors before shooting up to her.

Violet grabbed it from mid air and grinned. "Thanks James."

"Do you think Lily likes me Vi?" James asked, turning to face Violet, his eyes a little bit glazed but somehow at the same time, completely coherent.

Violet, who'd just swallowed a mouthful of firewhiskey, took her time to reply. "I think … I think that she likes you better than the previous years, if what I've heard is anything to go by … but not like you want her too."

James nodded, as if he understood every word of what she said (which she wasn't entirely certain about, to be honest) and took another swig of firewhiskey. "Do you like Sirius?" James asked.

"Of course I do," Violet said casually.

"No do you_ LIKE_ him?" James asked again, shouting on the word like.

Violet stared at James for a second. "How drunk are you?"

"Very," he answered, dragging out the 'v'.

"Will you remember this conversation in the morning?"

"Erm … I dunno."

Violet sighed. "Then I don't like him James."

"I don't believe you," James said quietly.

"Well you're piss drunk so shut up."

"Yeah well I'm not blind! You want to go sock that Lucy girl in the face!" James exclaimed loudly.

"I don't and quieten down!" Violet hissed.

"Sorry," James said. "But you do."

Violet sighed and took a long swing of firewhiskey. She sat back against the window next to James and stayed there the whole night.

* * *

**So I've managed to update at least one chapter a day since I posted this. I probably won't be able to do that so much anymore, but my goal is to update at least once or twice a week. Thank you to the people who've reviewed and favourited and followed this! **


	5. Chapter 5

The first thing Violet realised when she woke up in the morning was how uncomfortable she was. Her neck was tense and a sore and her thighs were numb from falling asleep in a sitting position. She also had the beginnings of a headache.

Groggily, she opened her eyes and blinked, trying to see clearly.

Most of the Gryffindor's who'd been down in the common room for the party had made their way successfully up to their dormitories. However, there were a few students strewn around, sleeping on couches and armchairs and even cushions on the floor. Frank Longbottom (bless him) was already up and about using his wand to sweep bottles into a large rubbish bag. Alice McCain and Amber were helping him. A Ravenclaw seventh year (Jacqueline? Violet thought curiously) darted upwards from a couch, confusion and worry dawning on her face as she realised where she was and what time it was, before she hurriedly excused herself to the three self-appointed cleaners and ran through the portrait hole.

Violet sat up slowly, stretching her neck carefully before realising she'd fallen asleep on James' shoulder. James' glasses were slightly askew and his mouth a little open. A firewhiskey bottle, not entirely empty, was still in his hand.

"What time is it?" Violet called softly to Frank, Amber and Alice, her voice a little hoarse.

"Just after six in the morning," Alice replied. "We wanted to get things cleaned up before any of the younger students came down."

The younger students. Right. "Does that mean everyone needs to get up and go to their dormitories? Just to keep up the ... illusion?" she asked.

Frank and Alice looked at each other. "I'm sure they already have their suspicions, but that would help," Frank admitted.

Violet nodded before poking James in the bicep. "James," she said. "James," she repeated louder, poking him harder. He started and looked around confused, blinking wildly.

"Morning," Violet smiled slightly.

James stared at her open mouthed for a second. "Did we do anyth-"

Violet snorted. "We fell asleep on each other. As I can remember everything, I can assure you we didn't do more then that."

"Oh. Good." He mumbled something under his breath before realising he was holding a bottle of firewhiskey. "I might as well finish-"

"Oh no," Violet said taking it from him and handing it to Amber who just passed by. "Help me get everyone down here awake and back up to their dormitories."

"Bloody hell," James said, before sitting up properly. "My head is pounding and my stomach feels ... ugh. We're going to have to organise a kitchen run."

Violet rolled her eyes but allowed James a moment to collect himself. He'd drunk much more then she had.

She and James began moving amongst the people on the couches and at the tables, gently prodding them awake, before they stumbled, barely coherent, to the staircases. Violet went further back in the common room, behind a cluster of armchairs that had just had a few fifth years ejected from them. A messy, uneven pile of cushions and blankets were there and nestled on them was Sirius and Lucy, intertwined so intricately that Violet couldn't tell which limb was whose.

Something shot through her veins, icy and cold and hard. Jealousy? Maybe. But this was more than just jealousy. Turbulent emotions twisted around inside her and it woke Violet up faster than any physical thing could as she stared down at the two of them. Sirius shifted slightly and pressed his forehead into Lucy's neck. More ice.

_Quash it,_ Violet thought. _Quash it now before it gets out of control and you do something stupid._

"Vi," James called from the other side of the room. "You ok?"

Violet looked around, her defense mechanism, the one she'd perfected, kicking in. She smiled convincingly, and nodded, before bending down and placing a hand on Sirius' arm shaking him awake.

* * *

Sirius felt something on his upper arm. It shook him a little. He groaned and buried his head deeper into whatever he was next too. It was soft, warm and smelled like cinnamon and firewhiskey, whatever it was.

"Sirius."

A voice. Soft, drifting over him like a feather.

"Come on, wake up."

His eyelids twitched and he allowed some light in. He turned over, toward whoever was firmly shaking him and squinted, as his eyes adjusted to the early morning light streaming in from the windows and through that bright light, he saw Violet kneeling above him.

Her hair was actually like pale golden sunlight. It was a little darker than the average blonde in normal light, but in the morning rays streaming in through the windows it brightened and formed a messy halo around her head, each strand shining like gold. Her face was like pale porcelain, the light making the sharp edges of her face softer. Her eyes were vividly blue, as clear and as intense as an early autumn day and had soft, barely-there smudges of black around them, the only kind of blemish Sirius could see - and even then, it endeared her to him.

She was speaking, he realised.

"… go to the dormitories so the younger years don't sus… are you listening?" she asked.

Sirius grinned. A reckless, drowsy grin and said "You're kind of beautiful."

Violet looked taken aback for a spilt second, but it vanished and an amused, if slightly exasperated mask replaced it. "And you're probably still drunk. Just get her up and then both of you go back to your dormitories to sleep it off."

With that she got up and left. Sirius was confused for a second before he turned and saw who he was with; Lucy Hurst, curled up beside him. Images of the pair of them dancing and laughing together late into the night flashed through his mind as he tried to delicately untangle himself, hoping that maybe they could both just ignore or forget, or in her case even know – if she was drunk enough and he was gentle enough at this moment – that this happened but it seemed his luck had run out. Sirius's movements were clumsy and erratic and soon Lucy was quickly blinking and squinting just as he had.

"Sirius!" she said. She sounded surprised and hopeful and … pleased, Sirius noted with a sinking stomach, his thoughts still in the direction of Violet, who had succeeded in waking everyone up and was walking up the stairs to her own dormitory. "What a night, hey?"

"Yeah," he agreed. "What a night."

* * *

It was only when Violet collapsed onto her bed that she allowed her distantly polite expression to change. She rolled over and listened to her dorm mates soft breathing, a sinking feeling in her stomach. She'd shown no indication that she liked Sirius; just the opposite in fact. Admittedly, she had been rejected his advances in the past, usually with some mischief, almost flirting – it was just her nature - but sometimes quite abruptly. And with good reason. Violet had heard many rumours. _All of them couldn't be true but there had to be some truth to them_, she reasoned. Did she want to date some like him, really?

She pondered that as she wriggled out of her jeans and pulled off her knitted jumper, before reaching for her bed hangings to close them, too tired to continue undressing. Just as she did, Lucy came up with a bright smile plastered on her face. Violet knew she didn't intend it to be malicious, that the smile was for Lucy's own sake, but she couldn't stop the feelings of jealousy and anger rearing up inside her.

Lucy caught sight of her, frozen in her action and she hastily re-arranged her features into its well-worn mask.

"Are you ok?" Lucy asked her, the smile never leaving her eyes.

Violet nodded. "I'm fine, just tired. Are you?"

Lucy sighed, her smile widening into a full blown grin and she looked down bashfully. "I'm great. Better in fact. I – you probably don't want to hear."

"Oh, no," Violet heard herself say, before she could stop herself. "What is it?"

Lucy bounced on the balls of her feet and paced the dormitory excitedly, her eyes gleaming. "Sirius. We were together a lot last night and … I woke this morning with him next to me and … I was sort of in and out of sleep, you know? But," she paused dramatically, "I swear I heard him call me beautiful. Out of all the girls in this school - all the girls he's _had_ in this school – he said it too me and it couldn't have been to, you know, shag me or anything, because I was asleep so …"

"Wow," Violet said.

Lucy's smile dropped a fraction. "You don't seem that excited."

"No, I am, I am!" Violet insisted. "I wish I could really show it, but I'm just so tired. My sleep was awful, and I was so uncomfortable…" she trailed off.

"Oh, right," Lucy said, her smile turning megawatt again. "Well, I'll leave you to catch up on it. I'm so glad it's Sunday. I think I should probably sleep too, but I'm buzzing, you know? My heart is racing!"

Violet chuckled obligingly, before closing the bed hangings completely. She felt the smile slide off her face and sat there for a moment, staring at the red velvet.

No, she decided, answering her previous question. She didn't really want that.

And for the moment, she managed to convince herself of it.

* * *

Violet slept almost all through Sunday, as did most of the older Gryffindor years, she learned the next day at breakfast.

She sat with Mary, Lily, Remus, Peter and Amber, feeling refreshed, Sirius and Lucy all but forgotten.

"Here," Peter passed her a list.

"What's this?" Violet asked.

"The list for people staying over the Christmas break," Lily told her.

Violet looked down at the list. It was pretty short; only about ten Gryffindor students appeared to be staying. "Can I find Professor McGonagall and put my name down later if I decide too?"

Lily shrugged. "I don't see why not."

Violet passed the list to the others; only Remus put his name down.

"You're staying over the break Remus?" Violet asked.

Remus didn't quite meet her eye when he nodded.

"Don't you want to see your family?"

"I do," Remus said. "But this year it'll just be easier for everyone if I stay at school over the break."

Violet was confused, but could tell by how both he and Peter were staring resolutely down at their plates that now was neither the time nor place to discuss this in depth.

"I'm sorry I can't stay with you, Moony," Peter muttered. "But my mum just got remarried and-"

"It's fine Wormtail."

Across the hall, Violet could see James walking in with Sirius and Lucy just behind him. In spite of herself, her heart dropped. Though, she was pleased to note, the feeling wasn't as severe as the day before. Nevertheless, she didn't feel like facing Sirius right now, so she shoved the rest of her breakfast down her throat and collected her bag before swinging over the bench.

Lily looked confused. "Vi, where-"

"I want to talk to Marlene," she called over her shoulder. "See you in Charms!"

As she passed James, Sirius and Lucy she flashed them a bright smile and said, "See you in class!" leaving them in the dust, looking perplexed.

Once out of the hall, Violet realised she actually had nowhere to go. Marlene, she knew, was meeting with a friend from Hufflepuff to help with a Defense Against the Dark Arts essay. Biting her lip, she wandered outside into the courtyard, not really paying attention to what was surrounding her. As result, she bumped into someone and her bag slipped off her shoulder, books falling out and splaying everywhere.

"Dammit," she muttered, bending down to repack her bag.

Another pair of hands entered her vision, much more tanned then she was. Looking up, it was a Ravenclaw sixth or seventh year. Her eyes honed in on the seventh year textbook he was carrying for himself; definitely a seventh year then. She took in his appearance as he picked up her books. He had sandy, light brown hair and blue-grey eyes, was taller than her (though that wasn't hard) and a strong jawline.

"Here," he handed her the textbooks and she silently berated herself for freezing and not picking them up by herself.

"Thank you," she said, sliding them into her bag. "It wasn't you I bumped into, was it?"

The seventh year shook his head. "I think it was a Slytherin – Regulus Black. He gave you quite a nasty look back too. What did you do to piss him off?"

Violet thought for a second and comprehension dawned on her. "I pretended to date his brother for about a day – Sirius, in Gryffindor, you know?" The boy looked snorted but nodded. "It was to get some clingy fifth year off his back. I'm surprised Regulus hasn't done anything worse, to be honest. Blood purity and all that, you know."

"You aren't a pureblood then?"

"No," Violet said. "Not really. My dad's parents were both squibs, though he's a wizard. My mother's a pureblood though. Apparently having squib parents makes you as bad as a muggleborn." She shook her head in scorn. "Blood purity. I'll never understand it."

The boy nodded. "It's like people having two different cultural backgrounds. It doesn't make anyone less of a person."

"Exactly!" Violet exclaimed. "Sorry, what was your name again?"

"Connor Ollivander," he replied.

"Ollivander? As in the wandmaker?" Violet asked.

"Yeah. He's a great Uncle, on my dad's side," Connor replied.

"Wow. That's impressive."

"I guess. You're Violet, aren't you?" Connor asked.

Violet frowned slightly. "Yes. How did-"

"Everyone knew there was a new girl in sixth year. I didn't recognise you so I just assumed."

Violet allowed a playful smile to creep onto her face and shifted her bag more comfortably onto her shoulder. "Well you assumed correctly."

"Maybe you should let me walk you to your next class as a prize," Connor suggested.

Violet shrugged non-committedly but the smile stayed on her face. "You're hardly entitled to a prize, but if you want to walk me to class, then I won't say no."

* * *

"Connor Ollivander!" Amber exclaimed, flopping into a seat in Great Hall at dinner.

"What about him?" Lily asked. The others, who were all there except Violet, halted their conversations and listened curiously.

"Megan (who told Cara, who told Jasmine, who told Samantha, who told me) said that she saw Violet and Connor meet in the courtyard this morning and afterwards, Connor walked Vi to her first class!"

Marlene perked up. "Oh, yeah. Cara told me about that in that Muggle Studies."

Peter stared blankly at them both. "So?"

"So?" Amber nearly shrieked. "Have you seen Connor Ollivander? His jawline is so sharp it could cut down trees!"

James, Remus, Marlene, Mary and Lily snickered. "I wouldn't go that far," Lucy said, playing with her fork. "But he's definitely attractive." Secretly, she was pleased with news that Violet had found some other boy. She could remember the jealously she felt when Sirius and Violet announced they were dating – fake dating, they clarified, of course. But it still sent waves of displeasure through her. Violet had been here for less than half a year and she already had Sirius wrapped around her –

"Hi," Violet said, sitting down beside Amber. She kicked her bag underneath the seat obliviously before looking up to see her friends staring at her. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"Connor. Ollivander." Amber said, watching her face intensely.

Violet smiled, but was confused. "What about him?"

"Are you two secretly dating?" Amber asked bluntly.

Sirius, who'd just taken a sip of his pumpkin juice, choked.

Violet spared a concerned glance for Sirius, who was coughing and trying to clear his throat, before answering. "Of course not. I only met him today. I dropped my things and he just helped me pick them up, that's all."

Amber pushed her plate away. "My sources tell me you two were very flirtatious. Are you planning to date him?"

Violet's eyes widened, almost comically, as an image of Violet smiling cheekily popped into existence in Sirius' mind. It felt like his insides were curling in on themselves. "Um, no," Violet said slowly. "Who… who are your sources?" She looked at Lily for help.

"Just ignore them all, Vi," Lily supplied as she calmly continued eating her shepherd's pie. "Nothing scandalous has happened around here so they're grasping at straws."

"Shush Lily," Amber said, her dark eyes never leaving Violet's face. "But you were flirting though? And I'm not criticizing you of course; if I was having a one on one conversation with someone as fit as Connor Ollivander, I would flirt."

Violet shrugged. "I don't know. I probably was a bit. He is pretty good looking." Simultaneously, Amber and Violet turned to the Ravenclaw table and stared at him, lips pursed.

Sirius exchanged an incredulous glance with James, Peter and Remus, who all shrugged.

"You should definitely get on that," Amber was saying. "And I'm going to live vicariously through you when you do."

Violet rolled her eyes, but smiled. "What happens will happen."

* * *

**I'd love some reviews! **

**Also, thank you to the few new people who started following and favourited this! I hope everyone'd enjoying things so far! **


	6. Chapter 6

"Will you come to Hogsmeade with me after Christmas break?" Connor asked.

It was the day before the students would go home over the holiday. James, Sirius, Remus, Amber and Lucy were all staying at the school. Lily, Marlene, Mary, Peter and Violet had all elected to go home for the holiday.

Connor's question hadn't exactly come unexpectedly. The past couple of weeks, their relationship had developed. At first, the pair had often just studied together in the library. It had then branched out from just studying to walks around the lake, to eating breakfast together, to Connor using his privileges as a seventh year prefect to sneak Violet out of her dormitory past midnight for snacks in the kitchen. Eventually one of their walks around the lake had taken a turn - and not an unpleasant one, Violet would say. The "latent chemistry and sexual tension", as Amber had so nicely put it, had broken past both of their barriers and it ended with them kissing, hidden from the view of the castle by the trees and shrubbery surrounding the lake.

"So are we together now?" Connor had asked.

Violet's lips had tweaked upwards and said, "I don't know. Are we?" Before retaking his hand and pulling him back up the path to the castle.

And Connor had gone with it. "That boy is a smitten kitten," Amber had remarked to the girls, watching Connor and Violet eat breakfast over at the Ravenclaw table. "Look, he'd do whatever she wants him too." In that respect, she was right. They would kiss and hold hands and curl up together but Violet would never give Connor a straight answer to his question. She knew she was being difficult, never giving Connor a straight answer, and she knew his contentment could only last so long, but for some reason, her heart just wasn't in it. Not really.

Which was why she said yes to going with Connor to Hogsmeade.

* * *

She'd make her decision regarding him then, Violet decided, walking back up to the Gryffindor common room. Her mind was too conflicted, too clouded with other things to make a proper decision now (just what those things were, she didn't exactly know). She needed to get away from school and the Christmas break was perfect opportunity.

"BRYCE!" someone yelled.

Violet whirled around. It was Regulus and two seventh year students, Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Black.

Violet's muscles tightened as they neared her and her hand twitched towards the pocket in her robes that she kept her wand in.

"Relax, Bryce," Lucius Malfoy laughed. The three of them had her back against a wall, forming a semi-circle around her, and Violet silently berated herself for getting herself into a position where she couldn't leave without pushing past them. "We just want to talk. There's no need for wands."

"I'll decide that myself, thanks," Violet said quietly, her face conveying nothing.

"Honestly," Regulus said, "We just want to talk. It's about your mother." They watched her, waiting to see how she would respond but her face remained the same; coolly polite, like someone exchanging pleasantries with a person they didn't particularly like.

"What about her?" Violet finally asked.

"She died early last summer, didn't she?" Regulus asked. "It's just ... you don't seem very upset for someone whose mother just died."

Violet shrugged. "It isn't healthy to dwell on unpleasant things."

"Cut the bullshit, Bryce," Lucius said, rather calmly.

Violet raised her eyebrows, in a gesture of polite misunderstanding.

"We know what she did. To your grandparents," Bellatrix grinned knowingly, twisting her attractive face into something distinctly darker. Violet's polite expression faltered. This girl was dangerous - insanely so; Violet could see it. It was behind her eyes; a wildfire that if untamed, could be disastrous. Violet wondered how Sirius could even belong to the same family.

"They covered it up fairly well, the Ministry," Lucius continued. "No one wanted a panic, of course. That's why. Where is she now, do you know?"

"No," Violet's lips barely moved.

"Hm. I could organise a little get together, if you want," Lucius said, his voice lowering. "I'm in contact with some of her colleagues."

Violet's blood turned to ice in her veins, when she realised what he was implying. He was one of them. "I have no desire to see my mother ever again. She made her choice."

Regulus looked disappointed. "That's a shame. I was going to tell my parents that Sirius had found himself someone with a somewhat reputable mother. Someone with the right idea, you know?"

"Sirius and I aren't together," Violet heard herself say. "I only pretended to be because I owed him. And it only lasted for about a day."

Regulus scoffed. "You're blind then. But it doesn't matter. Either way, you've obviously picked a side – with my brother, your father and his dead squib parents."

Violet's jaw tightened infinitesimally and again, her hand itched for her wand. But she didn't pull it. She was stronger than that. She could hide the urge to curse them and hurt them. Right until she needed to, of course.

But fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately), that wasn't necessary.

"Vi?"

Sirius, thank Merlin! She didn't let relief show on her face as he half ran over there and pushed past his brother to grip her arm. "Are you ok?"

She smiled convincingly. "Fine. But I'm about ready to go back to the common room."

"We weren't hurting her, Sirius. We were having a chat," Regulus scowled. Bellatrix laughed. "Oh my cousin," she said, in what would have been an affectionate way if it hadn't been so mocking.

Sirius glared at them as he took her hand and pulled her away, down the corridor. "ASK HER ABOUT HER MOTHER SIRIUS," Lucius shouted at their retreating backs, and Bellatrix cackled again.

Sirius didn't look back at her until they reached the common. When they did, Violet tried to take her hand away but Sirius' grip tightened and his grey eyes had darkened. "What did they say to you?"

"They just asked about our fake relationship," Violet replied. "It was probably a scare tactic thing. Don't worry about it."

"I am worrying about it though," Sirius said, moving closer. Violet picked a spot on his robes and stared resolutely at it. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"I promise you, I'm fine," Violet insisted.

Sirius paused for a second. "I hate that I'm playing right into their hands, but … why should I ask about your mother? Isn't she dead?"

"You're right, Sirius." Violet looked at him in the eye this time. "You are playing into their hands."

Sirius looked taken aback and then suitably ashamed. Violet felt guilt well up inside her. "Sorry," he said. "You're right. It's not really my business. We've only known each other since September and it isn't as though I'm your-" he broke off. "I am your friend though. So if you want to talk to anyone you can talk to me and I won't make any judgments. Merlin knows with my family I can't." He rolled his eyes and Violet felt warmth seep in with her guilt. He was right, in a way. He was probably the only one of any of her friends (new and back at Beauxbatons) who'd be able to truly empathise with the situation with her mother. But knowing that and telling him … they were two different things. So she broke the sombreness.

"Sirius, you're being unnecessarily serious right now," Violet grinned.

There it was. The cheeky smile being directed at him. And he couldn't help grinning back, if somewhat exasperatedly. "I suppose it was only a matter of time before you made a Sirius-serious joke. You should've heard Prongs, Moony and Wormtail in our first year."

"It seemed like the right time," Violet shrugged, still smiling widely. She regarded Sirius for a moment and, in that second, changed her mind. She bit her lip and lowered her voice. "But, really, Sirius… thank you. With my ... mum … I haven't exactly to-"

There was a loud cough and Sirius and Violet looked around to see Amber and Lucy standing by the girls dormitory staircase. It was as though they both came back to reality. Sirius realised he was still holding Violet's hand tightly and he dropped it quickly as they both stepped back.

"Hi, Amber, Lucy," Violet said, noting their expressions. Amber looked friendly enough but her gaze darted to Lucy nervously every few seconds. Lucy, on the other hand, looked like she was trying to suppress a murderous rage.

"What are you guys talking about?" Amber asked after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence.

"A few Slytherins cornered Vi in the third floor corridor," Sirius answered, looking resolutely at Amber and not Lucy. "I was just making sure she was ok."

"You just came back from being with Connor, didn't you Vi?" Lucy asked, staring hard at Violet.

"Oh … yes," Violet answered, suddenly reluctant to bring up Connor with Sirius right there, especially just after she was about to open up to him. The guilt intensified.

"I heard he was going to ask you to Hogsmeade. Did he?" Lucy continued, still staring at Violet.

Violet swallowed and nodded. She could feel Sirius' eyes on her.

"And are you going to go with him?"

"… I suppose so," Violet replied.

"That's exciting!" Amber said, but something in her voice sounded forced.

Violet risked a look at Sirius who had now turned his gaze to Lucy. "That reminds me, actually," He said, "I've been meaning to ask you to that Hogsmeade trip."

No, Violet thought. No, don't ask her.

_Polite. Distant. Pleasant._

Lucy grinned widely and Sirius noticed it was nothing like Violet's. Of course, a smile could never be ugly, but at that moment, Lucy's smile was particularly unwelcome. "You want to go with me?" Lucy asked.

"Yes," Sirius said, "if you'd like too."_ What are you doing?_ every fibre of his body screamed.

"I'd love to go with you then," Lucy answered, bouncing up on the balls of her feet. "Amber and I have to go - we're meeting up with some friends before they leave tomorrow – but I'll find you later, ok?"

And with that Lucy grabbed Amber's hand and dragged her out the portrait hole.

There was a silence between Sirius and Violet now, both of them staring at the floor.

Violet allowed herself two more seconds to wallow, before she looked up and chirped, "You and Lucy, then? That's nice."

It took Sirius a second to find his voice. "Yeah, I mean, I've liked her for a while now anyway."_ Lies_, his conscience told him._ You barely talked to her before this year._

Violet's mask slipped and Sirius saw hurt for a split second before it disappeared again. "Well, I'm sure you'll be very happy together," she said before rushing to the staircase.

"Wa-" Sirius began.

_Stupid._ Violet thought. _Stupid, stupid, stupid. It's not like you've exactly made yourself available anyway. It's your own fault._

She flung the door open and collapsed onto her bed face down, curling her arms around the pillow. You don't even have to see them together until next term anyway, she reasoned. It didn't make her feel any better.

"Violet?" Lily said, from her own bed. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Lily," Violet answered, her voice muffled by her pillow. She was getting sick of that question.

Lily hesitated for a moment. "Is it … Sirius?"

Violet didn't answer.

"What happened?"

"It doesn't matter," Violet sat up. "No, really, it doesn't. I'm being selfish. But thank you anyway."

Lily frowned. "I'm here to listen whenever you want to talk about… whatever" was all she said. "I'm going down to dinner early. Want to come?"

"Not right now," Violet said. "I'll go down later."

Lily shot her a concerned look, but nevertheless left, leaving her alone in the empty dormitory.

* * *

The next day, as she was about to leave for the train, Sirius ran outside and caught her arm. "I didn't see you at dinner last night. Or breakfast this morning."

"Didn't you?" Violet asked vaguely.

Sirius gave her an odd look but chose to ignore her statement. "You were going to tell me something yesterday, about your mum. Before Lucy and Amber interrupted."

Violet's eyes hardened. "This is hardly the place or time. Let me go please."

"When will be the place or time? Next term?" Sirius asked hopefully.

Instantly the walls around Violet went up. "I don't know. Probably not. Let me go or I'm going to miss the carriages and I'll have to walk all the way down to the station and probably miss the train."

"What do you mean by probably not?" Sirius asked incredulously, looking hurt.

"Sirius, let me go!" Violet snapped angrily.

Sirius gaped at her abruptness but nevertheless released her arm and Violet turned and began walking away. Desperately Sirius shouted, "I'll see you next term."

Violet didn't look around and continued walking and Sirius watched her go with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

* * *

**Hope you liked it! This chapter is a bit shorter then the others, but the next one will be extra long, if my memory serves correctly. **


	7. Chapter 7

**This chapter was insanely hard for me to write for some reason. It's also the longest chapter I've written so far (both of published chapters and not), so I hope it turned out ok! Also, I've had a huge jump in follows and favourites, so to those people, 'Welcome Aboard!' **

* * *

Her dad hugged her good bye on the platform. William Bryce was a changed man. He once crackled with energy, with a joking, confident manner. Violet could see none of that now. His light brown hair had begun to lose its luster and recede, and it lay flat on his head like a pancake. His eyes were no longer bright and his skin had taken on a pale grey tinge. It was like he'd physically shrunk in personality, size and stature with his wife's … betrayal.

Violet was afraid. She was worried about leaving her father alone and actually considered dropping out of Hogwarts. Then Professor Dumbledore, as if anticipating her thoughts, arrived on her doorstep on Boxing Day. He talked quietly with her father first, and then pulled her aside and told her that dropping out of Hogwarts would be a mistake.

"You're promising," he had said. "Very promising. And the circumstances of your mother have seen that you're now incredibly focused and driven."

Driven to what, she had asked.

But he just smiled knowingly, his eyes twinkling beneath his half-moon glasses.

So now Violet found herself herself, on platform nine and three quarters for only the second time in her life. And despite the worry for her father, she was excited. She missed her classes and her friends and roaming the grounds. She bid her him a final farewell and dragged her trunk onto the train with minutes to spare.

"Peter!" she called out. She could see him at the other end of the corridor. He spotted her and waved her over, standing half in and half out of a compartment.

She quickly made her way over and her heart warmed instantly at the simple sight. Marlene and Mary were giggling at something Lily had said, and Alice McCain, the seventh year girl Lily was close with and who Violet had come to like, was there too, blushing furiously.

Lily looked over and caught sight of her standing in the doorway, beaming and jumped up to hug her. "Violet! You're here!"

They helped her put her trunk away and she and Peter took seats and settled in as the train sped to Hogwarts.

* * *

Lily and Violet stepped out of the horseless carriage first and linked arms, walking ahead of Marlene, Mary, Alice and Peter.

"How was your Christmas?" Lily asked Violet.

Violet shrugged. "It was different from any other Christmas we've had. With my mum …"

"Oh, of course!" Lily looked horrified. "I'm so sorry! I forgot it would be your first Christmas without your mum! I should have been more sensitive, I know what it's like," she finished, speaking more to herself then to Violet. Violet knew she was referencing her father's passing, from cancer, just over a year earlier.

"Don't worry, Lily. It was alright. Quiet. No relatives really came round to visit so it was just me and my dad. Did you get the perfume I sent you?" Violet asked.

"I did. Thank you, Vi. I love it. I'm wearing it right now actually. Did you get the scarf?" Lily laughed.

Violet nodded. "And thank you! I needed a new scarf!"

They fell into comfortable silence as they entered the Entrance Hall.

"Actually I wanted to talk to you about something," Lily said as warmth washed over them in the Entrance Hall. "It's got to do with Sirius." Violet tilted her head to show she was listening. "It was him you were upset about that last day, wasn't it? Because he asked Lucy to go to Hogsmeade with him."

Violet opened her mouth to deny it but Lily saw the look in her eyes and stopped her. "No, come on. Don't lie and cover it up. I'm not going to tell anyone - you know that, right?" Violet pursed her lips and gave a half shrug.

"Am I right?" Lily asked.

Violet looked around nervously and sighed, "Ok. Yes, I was a bit upset. And I know it's so selfish because I sort of have Connor and we're … I don't know what we are. To be honest, I'm don't think I actually like him like that."

"But you ... like Sirius?" Lily asked, as they began moving up the staircases.

Violet was quiet for a second. "If you asked me last term, I would've said denied it, especially right at the end. We had a small … argument. I don't think it was really bad, but it was _definitely_ an argument. I was really upset with him because he kept asking me something and he wouldn't let it go … But the break … it was just what I needed. Thinking space. And now, I think I do like him. Well. No, actually I know I do," She grimaced. "Although, I've come to realise that I have sort of been leading Connor on a bit. I feel I was using him to work all this out, even though I didn't know. And last term he kept asking to make us 'official' and I always managed to get out of answering the question somehow but keep treating him like a boyfriend. I feel terrible about it."

Lily pursed her lips. "You have kind of gotten yourself into a bit of a difficult situation."

Violet snorted.

"But I think the best thing to do is just come clean to Connor, that over the break you realised that you like him only as a friend. And then you can go to Sirius and tell him."

Violet bit her lip. "But what about Lucy? Lily, she's so happy. She said to me last term that she's liked Sirius for ages. I don't want to make it awkward for us and ruin it for her with Sirius – and actually, how do I even know that Sirius likes me like that? Everyone's always saying he goes from girl to girl without a second glance and-"

"Honestly, Violet, I don't think you have to worry about Sirius not liking you," Lily said quietly. "I was writing to James over the break and he said-"

"James Potter?" Violet exclaimed.

"Yes James Potter."

Violet stared at her.

"Oh, close your mouth Violet, it isn't that shocking," Lily said, trying not to laugh at her expression.

"Sorry," Violet said. "But last term you seemed to detest the idea of even being in the same room as him and now you're writing letters to each other over the holiday."

"It was one letter! And I only answered it because he mentioned that he thought Sirius was missing you more than ... just that of a friend," Lily said carefully, before she paused. "Also, he hasn't really been hexing random people in the corridor anymore and that's makes him a little bit more endearing."

A smile crept onto Violet's face as she stared a Lily. Lily, seeing her stare, blushed and shook her head. "Sirius is right," Violet said. "You two are going to end up-"

"Violet!"

It was Connor, and he was darting up the stairs to meet them.

"Oh, sacre bleu," Violet muttered to Lily, her stomach tightening.

Lily struggled not to giggle at Violet's tendency to swear in French and squeezed her hand. "Just get it over with. I'll be waiting inside."

Lily entered the common room, leaving Violet to Connor just outside.

James, Sirius, Remus, Amber and Lucy were all sitting by the fire, playing exploding snap and chess.

James happened to look up first. "Lily!" She shot a small, hesitant smile in his direction (yes they had owled each other but were they actually good friends? Lily didn't really know) as she took a seat by the fireplace. "Where's everyone else?" he asked.

"Violet and I walked ahead of everyone when we got out of the carriage - they mentioned wanting to go meet up with some Hufflepuffs - but Connor turned up just as we got here so I left her so she could to talk to him," Lily answered. She watched Sirius' face but he acted like he didn't hear her. Odd, Lily thought. Last term, the mere mention of her name would make him look around, a little bit like a dog. She glanced at James who was also watching Sirius. He caught her looking and shrugged. He didn't know either.

* * *

The Christmas break had been just what Sirius needed. Time away from Violet. It gave him the opportunity to think clearly.

And think clearly he did.

He and Violet were friends. Perhaps even very good friends, before she got angry at him on that last day of term. Nothing more. She'd never shown any interest in him romantically, despite all the times he put himself out there (he ignored the fact that most of the time, him "putting himself out there" consisted of him offering to snog her in a broom closet), and Sirius Black did not wait around for girls.

Not even the first girl that he could see himself with properly.

That was the problem, Sirius had said to himself. She was the first girl. The first. He'd never let himself seriously consider properly dating a girl until Violet turned up. He was used to flings and he never wanted, needed or concerned himself with anything more, until now.

Lucy, however, wanted to properly date him. He knew it. He overheard her discussing it with Amber early on in these holidays.

Was Lucy like Violet? No. She had neat, dark curls and Violet had messy blonde waves. Lucy had big, expressive dark eyes and Violet's were a crystal blue and held mystery. Except for when she smiled, when she genuinely smiled. Everything was clear then. Sirius pondered her smile for a moment, before shaking himself.

The thought of her smile would always draw him back in so he had to steer clear of thoughts of it for the moment.

He and Lucy had spent quite a bit of time alone together over the Christmas break – more time than just that of friends –and they certainly hadn't acted like friends. They sat too close and touched too often. Remus and James had even commented on it a few times.

"You've never shown much of an interest in her before now," Remus had said.

"But, mate, what about Violet?" James would ask.

Sirius had repeated that he might as well give it a try with Lucy because Violet had made it clear that she didn't want him in that way. And Sirius was done wallowing. He was Sirius Black, for Merlin's sake! He could have almost any girl in the school if he wanted (except for Kelly in Hufflepuff and Susan in Gryffindor, since they weren't interested in boys in that kind of a way) and he was going to use that to his advantage.

And besides, they probably weren't even talking anymore, considering the way she yelled at him and walked off angrily on the day she left. And Sirius had convinced himself that he wasn't bothered by this fact.

* * *

Violet walked through the portrait hole and it felt as though all eyes were on her. All eyes except Sirius', who was shuffling the deck of exploding snap cards with extreme focus.

"I'm back! How was everyone's break?" she asked, too brightly. There was a chorus of responses, from everyone except Sirius. She ignored the tense feeling growing inside her and answered a question about her own break from Remus.

"Violet and I are feeling a bit tired," Lily said quickly "So we're going to go up to the girls dormitory for a bit before bed."

Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed Violet by the hand and pulled her up the staircase.

"What happened out there?" Lily hissed to her, slamming the door shut behind her. "Did you tell him?"

Violet turned away so Lily couldn't see her face. "I did tell him."

"And how did he react?" Lily asked, watching the back of Violet's long hair. Violet didn't answer. "Vi?"

Violet spun around and sat on top of her trunk. "It was awful," she said, rather solemnly. "I told him that over the break I realised that I didn't like him in a … boyfriend-like way and that I thought it was best we just end it now before anything serious happened."

"And?"

Violet looked down at her hands, which had begun to fidget without her permission. "He got angry. He said it didn't seem like I felt that way when we were kissing and …" She trailed off, wanting to spare Lily the details. "Then I panicked and I said that I was confused and having him helped me work out my feelings and he took it the wrong way." She swallowed, her eyes blurring as the tears she'd suppressed began welling up. "Or the right way, really, because that's what I was doing."

Lily looked confused. "What did he say to you when he was angry?"

Violet gave an odd sort of half shrug movement, smiling bitterly. "It doesn't matter, not really. He was right. I basically used him."

"Tell me, Vi," Lily insisted.

Violet swallowed hard, a lump in her throat. "He said I was a heartless bitch who used people for my own gain without giving a second thought about anyone else's feelings," she said, trying to keep her voice casual.

Lily stared at her for a moment. "Ok, whatever you did or whatever he thinks you did, saying that was wrong." She continued staring at Violet, who sat there, struggling not to let any of the salty tears that had built up fall. "That was really not right." And with that she turned on her heel and strode quickly and decisively out the door.

Violet watched her, alarmed. "Lily?" She jumped up and ran after her, but Lily was already almost down the stairs. Violet followed. "Lily, wait! Where are you going? Don't go to him, I don't want to-"

* * *

James swore loudly as Remus, grinning widely, won the third game in a row of exploding snap. "How are you doing it, y-"He broke off as Lily stormed out from the stairwell leading to the girls dormitory. "Lily? Where are going?"

She ignored all the faces that turned to her, identical expressions of confusion on their faces as strode angrily to the portrait hole.

"- go to him, I don't want to-" Violet called, as she appeared at the bottom of the stairs. She froze as the group of faces, joined now by Marlene, Mary, Alice and Peter, stared at her, taking in her distressed appearance. She hastily rearranged her features into what she hoped was her usual convincing smile and darted to Lily, jumping over a couple of first years, and finally managing to reach her as the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open.

"Lily, please," Violet begged in a hushed voice, conscious of the eyes that were trained on her back. "Please, don't go talk to him or tell him off or anything. It was my own fault and he was justified in-"

"Don't you dare say he was justified in calling you a heartless bitch!" Lily exclaimed.

"Shush!" Violet grabbed Lily's wrists.

Lily glared angrily at her but nevertheless lowered her voice. "He's supposed to be a prefect! It doesn't matter that he was angry or that he thought you were using him-"

"But I was really," Violet whispered. "I just didn't fully realise it at the time. And that doesn't change the fact that I did and he has a right to be angry."

"But that doesn't mean he has a right to say horrible things to you, especially when he's supposed to be a leader for our school. And Vi, you shouldn't say th-"

"ARE YOU TWO GOING TO STOP BABBLING ON AND LET ME CLOSE OR WILL I JUST LOCK YOU OUT FOR THE NIGHT?" the Fat Lady exploded.

Violet and Lily jumped and stared at her.

"Oh, we're so sorry," Lily apologised. "Really, we didn't think."

"Well, I'm aware of that!" the Fat Lady retorted.

"We'll be going back in now," Violet said, tightening her grip on Lily and pulling her back into the common room. She marched her back up the stairs, both the girls determinedly not looking at their group of friends by the fire, who watched them go curiously.

"What was that all about?" Peter asked, looking around confused.

Everyone shrugged. James stared intently at Sirius, who was extremely focused on a little scratch on one of his chess pieces.

* * *

Marlene awoke to see Vi, sitting on her bed, painting her nails.

"You are aware it's the morning, Violet?" Marlene said, turning over to her side, one hand under her head, her eyes narrow.

"Yes," Violet answered, admiring her newly painted black and silver nails. "Why?"

"You're never up this early," Marlene stated, watching her in concern.

"I didn't really sleep last night," Violet replied unconcernedly.

Marlene's eyes widened. "Seriously? I think you sleep more than Lily! What happened?"

Violet just shrugged.

"Then what did you do all night?"

"Edited the homework I did over the break then re wrote some of it, if it needed re writing." Violet answered, screwing the lid back onto the nail polish and plopping it onto her bedside table.

Marlene sat up and stared. "You actually did homework over the holiday?"

Violet nodded. "I had a lot of free time. Dad was out at work a lot and we didn't have a big Christmas celebration or anything."

"Oh. You should've come over to mine. We would've had a great time. All of my cousins are younger than me so I was the only person of my age there. I wouldn't have been so lonely," Marlene said thoughtfully.

"I wouldn't have wanted to impose," Violet said, smiling at her, warmed none the less by the proposal. "But thanks for the offer."

Marlene jumped out of bed. "You wouldn't have. But anyway, enough of that. Can I do your make up this morning? Someone hasn't seen Connor for _weeks_." She winked.

Violet stiffened slightly. "Actually, Connor and I broke up, sort of. Can you break up if you weren't officially together?"

"WHAT?" Marlene screeched.

"_MARLENE_!"

"What the-"

"For FUCK'S sake, Marlene!"

"Shut … _UP_!"

"Sorry, sorry," Marlene apologised, barely giving it a second thought, before she pounced onto Violet's bed. "What do you mean you broke up? When? Why?"

"Who broke up with who?" Mary asked, sticking her head through her bed hangings, her short hair tousled and eyes puffy.

"Violet and Connor," Marlene said, not looking around.

"I broke up with him last night, just after getting off the train," Violet said quietly.

"Is that what you were doing when Lily came into the common room alone?" Amber said, her voice muffled as though her head was still resting face first in her pillow.

"Yes," Violet said, a little louder so Amber could here.

"Why though?" Marlene asked. "He's so nice. And smart. Also, really good looking. I mean, obviously looks aren't everything, but they definitely help."

Violet hesitated. "I just realised I didn't like him like I should like a boyfriend."

"Is there someone else you like?" Mary asked.

"No," Violet answered. She wondered what Lily was listening and what she thought of her answer.

* * *

The girls in the sixth year dormitory proceeded to get ready for the first day back in classes. Violet would never admit it, but she loved sharing the big room with the five other girls, especially in the mornings. There was always someone to talk to, always someone to help do hair and make up and the room crackled with energy. As an only child she never had that and, especially after the lonely Christmas holiday where her father spent most of his time away, Violet appreciated it so much more.

"I'm ready to go," Marlene announced, pulling on a shoe while falling ungracefully onto her bed.

"Me too," Lily said. "Vi?"

Violet slipped into her own shoes and tied her hair back into a ponytail and nodded. She was probably running the latest out of the six of them, but she wanted to walk down with Lily.

The three girls left the room and began heading down to the Great Hall. Marlene was chattering away to Lily about the seeker from Hufflepuff that she'd outflown in the last Quidditch match, Robbie McKinnon, and how they were now working on their muggle studies essay together.

Half way there, Violet stopped. "Merde," she swore.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked.

"I left a book for my first class in my trunk," Violet answered. "I don't think I'll have time to go get it later. I have to go back." She began walking back towards Gryffindor tower. "I'll see you at breakfast."

* * *

Violet jumped two steps at a time to get up to the dormitory, but slowed and relaxed as she neared the door, her watch showing she had taken less time then she thought she would've to run back to the room.

She cracked the door open and stepped through but voices coming from the bathroom stopped her.

"… spent the entire holiday with him!" Lucy said.

"Wow," came Amber's voice. "Maybe he really does like you."

"He must!" Lucy insisted. "He's never been properly interested in someone before. Apart from the occasional hook up, nothing serious has happened between him and a girl at Hogwarts ever."

"Did you ever think there might be a reason for that?" Amber asked. "I've heard that his family kicked him out. He lives with James now."

_Close,_ Violet thought, but not entirely accurate.

"So?" Lucy replied.

"Maybe he doesn't want to get serious because he's afraid to get a… potential girlfriend involved," Amber suggested tentatively.

"I'm not afraid," Lucy said boldly. "Sirius and I … there was a connection right from the start."

"With you? Was there though?" Amber said, her voice tinged with incredulity. "I remember when Violet first came." Violet jumped at the mention of her name, and leaned forward listening intently. "I've never seen him talk so openly like that with anyone other than the Marauders before – especially not a girl."

"Violet?" Lucy scoffed. "No. Trust me, whatever they had, that ship has sailed."

"How do you know?" Amber asked.

"We spent a_ lot_ of time together over the holidays, as you well know," Lucy said, empathizing the lot. "And he's told me things. You just weren't there when he said them. I think I would know how he felt about Violet."

Violet felt as though her heart, which had been beating frantically at what she was doing, had stopped. How did Sirius feel about her?

"I don't know," Amber said hesitantly.

"Amber, just shut up. You don't know what you're talking about," Lucy snapped.

"I just don't want to see you get hurt, Luce," Amber soothed. "Don't get your hopes u-"

"I know what I'm talking about!" Lucy exclaimed angrily.

"But if he's just using you to sub-" Amber tried to say.

"Merlin, Amber, just STOP TALKING FOR ONCE!" Lucy shouted, as she stormed out of the bathroom.

Violet took that as her cue to slip back out the door. She ran quickly, lightly back down the stairs to the common room and stood there for a moment, facing the fireplace, only lit because it was still snowing outside. There she composed herself.

She had two choices. Go back upstairs and get her book, pretending like nothing happened or go down to breakfast where she would also pretend like nothing happened (at least until later). For the first time, her confidence in hiding her true feelings had faltered, so making a decision, she turned and walked out the portrait hole, to the easier option.

* * *

Violet took a seat beside Marlene in Transfiguration.

"Are you alright?" Marlene asked her. "You look sad."

"Do I?" Violet asked. She grinned. "Hungry, yes. Sad? Not so much."

"But you just ate!" Marlene exclaimed, believing her for the moment.

"Well, I like to eat a lot," Violet laughed, as Professor McGonagall walked to the front of the room, commanding the attention of the class instantly.

She began explaining the complexities of altering appearances using spells. "Metamorphmagus are witches or wizards who have an ability to do this naturally, without wands or spells. Before we continue, I'd like you to read the pages on Metamorphmagi in the Standard Book of Spells-"

"Dammit," Violet muttered, biting her lip, remembering that Marlene had been sharing hers the past few lessons. She turned to Marlene. "You still don't have your book, do you?"

Marlene shook her head. "I had to get it ordered in again after I left it out in the snow and it got soaked. Didn't you-"

"Lily," Violet turned in her seat to face Lily and Mary, seated just behind them. "Can Marlene and I borrow your textbook for today and you can share with Mary?"

"Sure," Lily replied. Then she frowned. "Didn't you go back up to our dormitory to get it before breakfast because you'd forgotten it?"

At her words, Amber, who was seated across the aisle from Lily and Mary, whipped her head around and stared at Violet, her eyes wide.

Violet pretended not to see Amber and made up an excuse about not being able to find it, before taking Lily's textbook, turning around and focusing on the lesson again.

After the class, Amber grabbed Violet's arm and pulled her aside, as people packed up and began leaving the classroom. "You heard, didn't you?" she said.

Violet put on her best confused expression. "Heard what?"

Amber glared fiercely at her. "Despite what Lucy thinks sometimes, I'm not stupid. You came back to get your book from the dormitory but you heard Lucy and I talking. Lucy was telling me ab-"

"Alright, I heard!" Violet hissed, wrenching her arm out of Amber's grasp. "There, I admitted it. What does that have to do with me?"

Amber stared at her. "If you like Sirius-"

"I don't."

Amber stared, her eyes disbelieving.

"I don't! Sirius can date, snog … even shag whoever he wants to. I really do not care," Violet snapped. "He's only my friend – nothing more."

"Why are you lying to yourself?" Amber asked incredulously. "I know you are – I can see it!"

Violet sighed. "If you won't believe me, I can't force you too." She turned away and packed her things, before leaving the classroom for Ancient Runes.

* * *

"Sirius!" Violet called, seeing the back of his head across the fourth floor corridor, standing on her toes. This could be her chance to apologise for getting angry at the end of last term. He didn't seem to hear her because he didn't turn around. "Sirius! Padfoot!" He still didn't even slow down, so Violet darted through the bodies of students hurrying to get to their next class.

She caught his arm and grinned. "Sirius, it's our free now. I've been meaning to talk to you since last night. Do you want to go to an empty classroom or outside? I don't think the snow would be too bad under the tree that we always – hey, are you listening?" Sirius was looking at the floor resolutely, not looking at her. It suddenly occurred to her that he hadn't even looked at her all day – not at breakfast when she, Peter and James were laughing hysterically at something Remus had unexpectedly said, not in Transfiguration when she and Marlene had conjured massive moustaches onto each other and paraded around, making even McGonagall's stern exterior crack, nor any other lesson they'd had that day. At lunch, she hadn't even seen him. Her face fell. "Sirius?"

"I wanted to work on my own today," Sirius said. "I have an essay due for potions that I have to do."

"I have the same one! We could do-"

"No, Vi," Sirius said, his voice hard. "You're … too much of a distraction. Sorry." And then he turned and walked away, leaving Vi in the middle of the corridor.

It's ok, she thought. He just wants to do really well in potions. There's no other reason he wouldn't want to be with her. Apart from, you know, the argument they'd had just before the Christmas holiday. Her blood ran cold. Had she ruined their friendship? And had Lucy been right that Sirius didn't want to see her anymore?

It seemed like it.

* * *

**Until next time xx.**


	8. Chapter 8

"Mate, you're an idiot," James was saying, pacing their dormitory. "In fact, you might even be more than an idiot, depending on what you do today."

Sirius watched him pace the dormitory from where he lounged on his bed. It had been a couple of weeks since school had begun again and today was the Hogsmeade trip, which was, funnily enough, the day before Valentine's Day. He and Lucy's relationship, if it could be called that (at this point it really should be called that), had progressed significantly. In contrast, he hadn't spoken more than a few words to Violet since she'd come back. This was what James was referring too.

"… don't even like Lucy, for fuck's sake-"

"How do you know?" Sirius cut in defensively.

"Because you look as bored as hell whenever you're with her," James snapped.

"Well, I'm not," Sirius said.

James nearly shouted at him. "You never even cared about her before this year! Before the Quidditch party this year, I've only ever seen you talk to her properly once and that was because she needed to borrow a quill!"

Sirius frowned. "Well maybe that's why I've never shown an interest in her before – because I never gave her a chance!"

James groaned and fell face first onto his bed. Sirius mildly noted that it was lucky he wasn't wearing his glasses. "Wormtail, Moony, please talk some sense into him."

Peter's eyes widened immediately, as if to say "Don't look at me!"

Remus, realising that the task would fall to him, sighed heavily and looked at Sirius. "What James is trying to say, without actually saying it, is you're hiding your feelings for Violet behind … whatever this is with Lucy."

Sirius grit his teeth and Remus realised that his bluntness may have actually gotten through to Sirius, so he continued. "We all know you haven't talked to Violet since she came back after Christmas. And we know she keeps trying to but you always make some excuse to leave. I remember one time, she caught up to you outside the library but you completely ignored her in favour of running after Lucy, who you saw walking off in the opposite direction, just so you could kiss her goodbye."

At this Peter perked up. "Oh, I remember that! I was there! She looked so upset. I was going to go to-"

Sirius glared at him and he promptly shut up. "None of you would know anything about how I feel about Lucy," Sirius barked. "And if you were real friends, you'd actually be supporting me."

James sat up and frowned at Sirius. "Real friends also tell you when you're making a mistake," he retorted.

"You have no way of knowing that this is a mistake!" Sirius scoffed. He shoved his feet into his shoes, not bothering to tie up the laces, and strode angrily to the door. "And I'd appreciate it if you took the time to look at things from my bloody perspective!" With that, he left and slammed the door behind him.

"YOU'RE BEING A GIT!" James shouted after him. There was no response so James turned to Remus and Peter. "He's being a git, isn't he?"

Peter swallowed and nodded nervously. Remus simply sighed again. "Yeah, he's being a git," James repeated, more to himself.

* * *

"Should I wear my blue jumper or the red cardigan?" Lucy was asking Marlene.

"With that skirt?" Marlene replied, looking at the dark maroon colour of Lucy's knee length skirt, "go with the jumper. You don't want to be _too_ matching."

Lucy considered this for a moment, than nodded in agreement. Amber shot a sympathetic look to Violet, still in her pyjamas, sitting in her bed. Lucy noticed the glance and said, "Are you going to Hogsmeade today Violet?"

Violet shrugged, sinking further back into her pillow.

Lucy turned back to the full length mirror and continued speaking to her casually. "I've noticed that you've been upset lately. Has something happened?"

"No," Violet replied. "I guess I'm just overwhelmed by all the schoolwork."

Lucy looked at her sceptically in the mirror. "You don't really seem like that type of person. Are you sure nothing's wrong?" Violet didn't really know what to say in response, so she sat awkwardly looking anywhere but the mirror. "OH! I know! Connor Ollivander and you broke it off, didn't you?"

"Well, we were never officially together," Violet said softly. She noticed the entire dormitory had gone quiet. "But yes, I suppose we did."

"Ollivander. He's got such a powerful family," Lucy mused. "You know, I've heard a couple of people say that you were just using Connor for his influence and he worked out what you were doing."

Violet's jaw dropped as Lily spun around and said angrily, "That's enough Lucy! It's one thing to believe those ridiculous rumours but it's another to help them spread!"

Lucy looked shocked at Lily's outburst and the other girls, including Violet had frozen, staring at either Lily or Lucy.

Lucy tried to talk, "I was just wonder-"

"Well stop wondering," Lily snapped. "Violet broke it off with Connor because she realised she only liked him as a friend. That's it. Maybe the next time you hear someone saying those things, you can tell them the truth."

Lucy scoffed and looked down at Amber, who looked away immediately but said quietly, "You did kind of overstep."

Lucy stared down at Amber for a moment before turning to Violet. "Sorry, Vi. I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's ok," Violet nodded, willing to just accept the apology to avoid the argument.

Lucy later left the dormitory first to meet up with Sirius in the common room, soon followed by Mary and Amber. Marlene hovered in the doorway just after them. "I can cancel going to Hogsmeade with Robbie," she was saying to Lily, who was trying to usher her out the door. "We're just going as friends! I can hang out with you two instead! He won't mind. Not really. Maybe he could even hang out with us. You'd like him. He-"

Lily sighed and pushed Marlene out the door, succeeding in shutting it behind her. She turned to Violet with a bright smile. "Come on. Get up."

"What?" Violet asked.

"Get up," Lily repeated. "And put on that smiling face that you always pull out when you're trying to convince someone you're fine. You can fool everyone else, but you can't fool me."

Violet frowned. "If I can't fool you, then you know that I don't want to go anywhere because I feel awful."

"Oh Vi, you probably haven't been fooling many people recently, if I'm being honest," Lily said. "It doesn't seem like your heart is in it anymore. But regardless, we are going to Hogsmeade!"

"You go. You could probably still catch up with Mary and Amber if you go now."

"I want to go with you," Lily insisted. "Now will you get up on your own, or am I going to have to make it happen myself?" She pulled out her wand.

"Oh bloody hell."

* * *

Violet left the dormitory with Lily half an hour later. Lily had picked out her clothes for her and did her hair in a loose braid over one shoulder and proceeded to drag her all the way down to the Entrance Hall and out onto the grounds. It was about there that Violet gave up trying to fight her and decided to make an effort to enjoy herself.

"Where to first?" Lily asked.

"I've only ever been to Hogsmeade once, Lily," Violet replied. "I don't know too much about what there is to do."

"We could-" Lily began, but she was cut off when a group of students passed them whispering and giggling and looking back at the pair over their shoulders. Violet was confused until she realised Connor was in the group, pointedly not looking their way.

Her stomach clenched as feelings of regret made itself evident and she once again wished, as she had been wishing the past few weeks, she had never talked to Connor that first night back. "I want to go back to the castle," she told Lily.

"Oh, no," Lily said, tightening her hold on Violet's arm. "You are sticking this out with me. How about Honeydukes?"

Violet shook her head, her anxiety heightening as she remembered the first time she went to Honeydukes. "I don't feel much like sugar right now."

"Ok then. What about the Three Broomsticks?" Lily suggested.

She had been there with James and Remus. "That sounds good," Violet said and they continued out the Hogwarts gates and down the path to Hogsmeade. Eventually she began to relax.

Lily even managed to get her to laugh while they sat in the Three Broomsticks sipping butterbeer, as she told her about all the anecdotes the Marauders had gotten up to in their previous years.

"Although, some of them really weren't funny," Lily was saying to her as they left. "James and Sirius, in particular, had a tendency to test out different hexes and jinxes on random people in the corridor just for fun. A lot of the time, no one saw them so they got away with it. And sometimes they could be … cruel too."

"James and Sirius? Cruel?" Violet said disbelievingly. "Idiotic and ignorant and sometimes arrogant … yes I can see that. But cruel?"

Lily nodded. "Remember when we were telling you about that fight with my old friend, Severus, from Slytherin? And how James and Sirius had started the fight?" Violet nodded. "They used the Levicorpus spell on him after our OWL exams and he was hanging upside down and - it was such a trivial thing, but humiliating, you know?" Violet could imagine and she felt a spark of pity for the boy – she'd seen him in her classes but never truly got much of a look at him. "And then he got down and they started throwing curses at each other."

"Why did James and Sirius even jinx him in the first place?" Violet asked curiously.

"That's the cruel bit," Lily said. "They said it was just because of the fact he existed. Or was it just the fact that he was there?" She paused pondering for a moment, before shaking her head and continuing. "Either way, it doesn't matter. No one deserves that."

Violet thought quietly for a moment as they walked aimlessly through the village. "I know I haven't really known either of them long but they don't seem like the kind of people who'd do that."

Lily nodded. "They've toned it down a lot this year. I think they've only hexed about three people who've annoyed them rec-"

"Sirius, stop!" a voice cried out in between giggles. Lucy ran out in front of them, Sirius chasing after her grinning, grabbing her hand and pulling her into his embrace, arms sliding around her waist.

Lily and Violet stopped abruptly in the street and Sirius and Lucy quickly came to the realisation that they weren't alone. Sirius' grin slid off his face as he locked eyes with Violet, who stared back blankly.

It wasn't shock, exactly, that she was feeling. She wasn't surprised to see them acting so much like a couple. After all, that's what they were, really. For weeks now, they'd spent most of their free time together – James had been complaining to her about it – and, like Lucy said in the dormitory, they'd grown very much acquainted over the holidays. And he'd always pick Lucy over her, even just in between classes; if it was a choice to walk from one class to the other with one of them, Sirius would now always choose Lucy. They had become so apparently close and open about their relationship that Alexa Payne and the fifth years who'd previously shot glares of daggers in her direction had begun to ignore her.

No, it wasn't shock. It was that hollow feeling again – the one she'd experienced when she was new to the school - currently being hammered into her every second they stood there. She shouldn't be complaining – she had formed strong friendships with so many other people at Hogwarts; Lily, James, Remus, Marlene and all the others … almost every sixth year in Gryffindor.

But she wanted Sirius too. Even as just a friend. And she knew that made her the most selfish person in near vicinity right now.

"Lily," Violet murmured, turning to her. "I'm going to go back to the castle now. I'll probably see you at dinner. Thanks for the butterbeer."

"Vi, wait," Lily began, but Violet had already begun hastening away. Lily watched her go for a second but decided not to run after her. She had things to deal with here first. She turned back to Lucy and Sirius, still frozen in each other's arms right in the middle of the path. Lucy looked innocent; almost too innocent, as if she knew why Violet reacted like she did. But that could just have been Lily's mind playing games with her. Sirius, however, looked guilty, Lily was pleased to see. "Sirius, can I speak to you alone for a moment?"

Sirius's eyes, which had been on the place Violet had disappeared, flickered to her. "What for?" Lily's jaw tightened infinitesimally but Sirius saw it and knew that if he didn't give her what she wanted, she would probably jinx him. "Sorry. I mean, sure I'll talk to you. You don't mind, do you Luce?"

Lucy minded a little, but not enough to voice it. Instead she looked up at him, smiling, and shook her head. "Of course not." She kissed him gently, perhaps for just a second too long. "I'll just go into this shop and have a look and you and Lily can talk out here." She shot Lily a friendly smile – genuine, as well. Lucy didn't have a problem with Lily talking to Sirius alone. If it was Violet, well, that would be a different story. However, it did occur to her that Lily might say something on Violet's behalf to Sirius so she resolved to keep an eye on them through the shopfront window.

Lily waited until Lucy entered the antique store before she shot Sirius a grim smile and said. "Sirius, you're being a git."

Sirius was not used to this type of language from Lily Evans, nor the fact the Prongs had said the exact same thing to him just this morning. "Uh -"

"No. Shut up. Don't say anything. I am going to say this once and once only so listen up," Lily said quietly, her face betraying none of the aggression her choice of words were conveying. "Violet is beating herself up. She told me things between the two of you last term before the holidays were … tense. She didn't tell me why but she said it was her fault. She's been trying to apologise ever since she got back and you won't give her the chance too. And I know you like her more than just a friend and this … thing with Lucy is nothing more than a substitution for what you really want."

Sirius actually spluttered (he would vehemently deny that later on). "I'm not using Lucy as a substitute for Violet!"

Lily scoffed. "Sure you aren't. The first time you've ever been properly interested in a girl and she doesn't immediately seem to be interested in you back, you take on the next person who could offer something even slightly similar to what you could have had."

"You don't know anything!" Sirius exclaimed.

"I do know that if you were just patient and waited for Violet, you wouldn't be stuck in a shallow relationship, like you are now," Lily said matter-of-factly.

"Waited for – Violet's made it clear she doesn't like me in that way! She even dated Connor for a bit! So I backed off. How am I the bad guy here?" Sirius asked.

"Violet broke it off with Connor because she realised that she liked you!" Lily exclaimed exasperatedly. "The first night we came back, remember? We came down and I was angry and she was upset and she convinced me not to punch Connor in the jaw because of stuff he said to her-"

"What did he say?"

"That doesn't matter right now," Lily dismissed. "What matters is, if she hadn't been upset, she probably would have apologised to you that night for the argument you had before she left at the end of term. And she probably would have told you that Connor was a mistake-"

"Stop," Sirius said, shaking his head like a confused dog. "Just stop."

"Why?" Lily asked.

"Because … I'm with Lucy now and-" he broke off as Lily rolled her eyes. "Lily, please. I appreciate you telling me this and I … I might talk to Violet later tonight but right now, just let me think this over."

"You'll talk to her later tonight?" Lily repeated, showing that was the only thing of relevance that she heard.

Sirius hesitated. "Maybe."

Lily's eyes narrowed but she conceded. "If you still want to be with Lucy, then fine. I guess no one can stop you. And no one can know exactly how you feel," she said grudgingly._ Even though we can make a very, very good guess._ "But, please, at least let her apologise to you so you can be friends again."

To her surprise, Sirius nodded straight away. "I will." He looked sheepish. "I really should've done that earlier."

Lily felt relief. "Yes," she agreed. "You should have. I'm going now. You should get back to Lucy. She's been watching us anxiously through the window all this time and I assume she wants to know what's going on."

Reluctance appeared on Sirius' face. "Right. You won't tell-"

Lily rolled her eyes. "No I won't tell her what we talked about."

_You can do that yourself when the time comes_, Lily thought when she left him a moment later.

* * *

Out of the corner of his eye, Sirius made sure Violet was nowhere to be seen when he kissed Lucy good night as she headed upstairs, before going up to his own dormitory.

When he entered, James jumped up. "Sirius, mate, about this morning – I'm sorry. I may have went too far. And even though I am right doesn't mean I should get angry at you for making your own-"

"Apology accepted, Prongs," Sirius muttered, falling onto his bed face first.

The entire dormitory breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone could remember the last time James and Sirius fought – last year when Sirius, in a fit of anger, sent Snape to the Whomping Willow (because he was sneaking around again trying to find what they were doing) when Remus was transforming. James was furious – as was Remus, and probably Peter too (but he generally avoided arguments) – and the fight had lasted for over a month. Remus began speaking to Sirius sooner than James did, because he could see how much the guilt was killing Sirius – and Remus, knowing Sirius was absolutely furious when he made the decision to tell Snape about the Whomping Willow, knew how reckless and heedless Sirius was when he was truly angry. It took James much longer (perhaps because he expected_ so_ much more of Sirius, as his best friend), but eventually Dumbledore stepped in and talked to him for a period of two whole classes. To this day, no one knew what Dumbledore had said and James certainly wasn't telling. Regardless, that month one week and five days had been the worst ever of all of them in the Gryffindor boys dormitory – the Marauders' other roommate, Hugo, actually took to sleeping in the common room to avoid the tension on some nights and on other nights, Sirius just didn't come up. Currently, Hugo was thanking whatever higher spiritual being that existed that they'd avoided another massive fall out.

Sirius rolled over and stared at the ceiling for a minute. "How do people do it, Prongs?"

"What?" James asked , looking up from the Quidditch tactics strewn all over his bed. "Do what?"

"Let people in so …" he trailed off, making a face and waving a hand in the air before letting in flop back down beside him again.

James, realising this would be a discussion best had in private, jumped off his bed and leaped onto Sirius', somehow avoiding crushing his legs. He turned to Remus, Peter and Hugo. "I'm going to cast Muffliato and you are not going to listen in," he said, before swinging the bed hangings shut and casting the spell.

"You didn't have to do that." Sirius said, not bothering to sit up.

"Yeah I did." Sirius glared mildly at James in disagreement but let it go. "Now, speak to me about Violet."

"Who said this was about Violet?" Sirius asked incredulously.

James gave him a look. "Don't give me that bullshit. We went through this, this morning. What changed?"

Sirius sighed and grimaced. "Your bloody redhead is what happened."

Sirius saw surprise flash on James face and he had the satisfaction of knowing that he didn't expect that. "Lily?" he asked.

"Yes, Lily. She said something that made me wonder …" Sirius trailed off again. James, annoyed, noted he'd been doing that a lot recently, but waited for Sirius to continue. When he did he sat up urgently, speaking quickly as if he couldn't say the words fast enough. "She said Violet had broken it off with Connor because over the holidays she'd come to a realisation."

James waited but Sirius didn't continue. "And that was?"

"That she-" I feel like a five year old, Sirius thought "-liked me."

Internally, James was screaming with triumph. But he was James Potter. He wasn't going to make this easy. "Liked you? Liked you like what?"

Sirius immediately knew what he was doing and smacked him with a pillow. "You know what I mean! Stop being prick!"

James laughed loudly. "All I'm going to say is it's about time! So, when are you breaking up with Lucy?"

Sirius blanched. "I … can't. I can't do it."

"Break up with Lucy? Sure you can. It's easy. Do it gently, though, you don't want to hurt her feelings too badly."

"No, I can't be with Violet."

James felt his ecstasy quickly disappear. "Why not? You like her too – I know you do. I can see it on your face." Sirius didn't answer and James, for a moment, believed that he had been horribly wrong. "Padfoot?"

The truth was Sirius was scared; utterly, completely scared of allowing Violet to get quite so close to him. Lily was right – this relationship with Lucy was shallow, meaningless. He never let Lucy in like he had Violet that day in Honeydukes, talking about his family. Heck, even James didn't know what he told Violet (though he probably suspected it). And then there was the matter of his family – if Violet was with him, would it put her in their sightlines? Or in the Death Eaters sightlines? Lucy was fine – as far as Regulus and the other Slytherin's knew, Lucy was nothing more than a fling; albeit a long one (for him). If he was with Violet, they would know it was something more, because everyone could see something between them almost as strongly as they could see something between James and Lily.

"I just can't," Sirius told James.

* * *

**Thank you for the reviews and follows, everyone - and hello to new people! **


	9. Chapter 9

"He just said that he couldn't," James said.

"That's – that's-" Lily stuttered.

"Insane? Senseless? Bullshit?" James suggested.

"Exactly!" Lily exclaimed. "He does like her! He admitted it! And he _knows_ she feels something for him now, so why he doesn't he do anything about it?"

James shrugged and watched Lily stare out the window of the common room, positively seething. "You know, we've liked each other for a while Lily-"

Lily scoffed. "Have we? I'm fairly certain that it was mostly one sided in your direction, Potter."

"James," James muttered under his breath. He hated it when she called him Potter. He raised his voice to a normal tone. "Well, we're friends now, aren't we? We've owled each other over the holidays. We even sit in a group together at meals sometimes. You like me more then you did last year."

"I like you when you're not acting like an arrogant toerag," Lily said, avoiding the question somewhat.

"And I'm not this year! I've progressed as a person!"

"Well," Lily suddenly felt flustered. "Well, you acted like a childish git last year."

"I couldn't stay twelve forever!" James said, making a face and feeling a little indignant.

"You were fifteen last year," Lily reminded him.

"That's irrelevant," James retorted.

Lily rolled her eyes and turned away, but James could see she was also smiling.

* * *

He was just going to do it. He was going to go up to her and he was going to apologise for acting like a prat these past few weeks.

Sirius had been trying to talk to Violet privately since the night before, after his talk with James, but he couldn't find her. Not that it mattered, really. He'd seen her at breakfast, watching her out of the corner of his eye, and kept putting it off. His excuses ranged from 'she's probably too tired' or 'I don't want to spoil her morning' or 'I don't want to draw anyone's attention at lunch'. As well as that, Sirius had been dealing with glares from Lily all day. At one point, she'd even gripped him by the arm.

"You said you'd talk to her last night!" she whispered angrily into his ear.

"I know, I know! I'm going to today!" he hissed back.

And now he was standing beside the stairs to the girls dormitory waiting for her, hoping to catch her before she went down to dinner.

"Sirius?" It was Lucy. He swore internally before looking up, seeing she was with Amber. "Are you waiting for me to go to dinner with you?"

"Uh, no, actually, I was-" he caught sight of Violet quietly slipping past the two of them. "Violet!" he called.

Violet froze and slowly turned, confusion written all over her face. "Yes?" she asked uncertainly.

"I needed to talk to you about something," Sirius said.

Her eyes widened and flickered to Lucy, who was standing there stock still, staring at Sirius with something acute to panic on her face. They flickered back to Sirius and she nodded hesitantly, walking back towards him.

"Let's go, Luce," Amber said, taking Lucy's arm and leading quickly her out the portrait hole.

"Do you want to sit?" Sirius asked, indicating to the cluster of armchairs by the fire. Violet nodded in agreement and they both moved to sit down.

"Sirius, I'm really sorry I got angry at you last-" Violet began.

"No, don't. Lily told me that when you first came back you wanted to apologise to me straight away. You don't have to now," Sirius said. He swallowed his pride and continued. "I was a git. Over the holidays I was thinking about last term and ... for some stupid reason, I made a decision that led me to ignoring you. So, I'm sorry."

"Is that it?" Violet asked. "You decided to ignore me because you were angry at me when I wouldn't answer you last term?"

Sirius swallowed. Ignoring her had nothing to do with their fight last term – it had everything to do with forgetting his feelings for her. "I was never really angry at you."

"Then what was all this about?" Violet asked. It disturbed Sirius slightly that she wasn't even sounding the slightest bit mad. "You were my friend and then you weren't and I didn't know why."

"It doesn't matter," Sirius said.

"Why not? How can I fix it if you don't tell me what I did wrong?" Violet asked, hurt colouring her voice.

"It's absolutely nothing you did!" Sirius said hurriedly. A look of blatant disbelief showed on her face. "No, really! Remember what I told you that day in Honeydukes?" Violet nodded, her face twisted in confusion. "It's like that. Can we just move past this and … go back to the way things were."

"Sirius, if it's like that, then you already know I would never judge," Violet said. She looked down at her hands. "But, I mean, I guess if that's what you want…" she trailed off, locking eyes with Sirius.

Nope, Sirius thought. No way in hell is that all that I want. But he nodded.

Violet hid her thoughts behind her smile. Just being friends with Sirius when she knew now how she felt? The idea wasn't exactly appealing. But being friends with Sirius was better than not being friends with him at all. "I've missed being your friend," she told him, completely honestly.

* * *

Lucy sat at the Gryffindor table at the Great Hall, not eating. Instead she was staring at the doors, waiting for Sirius to enter, preferably without Violet.

Lucy had nothing against Violet herself – but she was afraid, deep down, that when it really came down to it, Sirius would choose Violet over her. And she hated that. She had known him longer. She had liked him for longer. She had worked up the courage to try talk to him for years. And yes, she'd only really succeeded this year (last year, if you included the time he asked to borrow a quill), but it was the thought that counted.

And now, everything she wanted with Sirius, she had. But it was being threatened by a new girl who had lived in France for half her life, who moved countries as a way to overcome the grief of her mothers recent death. And that was terrible, it was. Lucy could not imagine life without her mother. But it made Violet appealing, Lucy thought. Beautiful and tragic. Like one of those muggle fairytales Marlene had told her about.

Lucy's heart dropped as Violet walked in, followed by Sirius, who looked at her like a lost puppy whenever she grinned. I've as good as lost him, she despaired, as he sat down at the table beside her. Violet sat down next to him.

* * *

"Mate!" James burst into the dormitory after dinner. Sirius was already up there, taking off his school uniform. "I never thought I'd be so happy you were friends with someone who isn't me again."

Sirius grinned half heartedly. "I'm glad too."

James' happiness faded when he saw the half-assed nature of Sirius' grin. "Maybe you should try showing it one day."

Sirius paused, about to pull of his trousers. He turned to James and quite seriously said. "I don't think I'll be able to resist it. Her, I mean. Whenever she damn smiles …" he muttered to himself, facing his bed again.

James broke into a triumphant grin. "Good. Even better. I mean it sucks for Lucy, but if your heart's not in it, then its better just to be done with it, I say. That's why I haven't properly dated anyone for longer than a month – Lily Evans is the only girl for me. Even if she doesn't know it yet."

Sirius didn't reply.

"So when are you going to break up with Lucy then?" James asked.

"I'm not," Sirius answered shortly.

James spun around. "Why not?"

Sirius shrugged, not facing James. James did not take kindly to basically being ignored so he strode across the room, grabbed Sirius by the shoulders and forcefully made Sirius look face his way.

"Why not?" Again, there was no answer. Sirius looked down at his feet. "This may come as a shock to you, Padfoot, but I happen to be Violet's friend too and I happen to care about her feelings about as much as I care about yours." James surveyed Sirius, who wasn't looking him in the eye. "You know, maybe we're all wrong about the two of you. If you're going to be a self-obsessed wanker who apparently enjoys putting yourself through misery for the fucking fun of it, then maybe you don't deserve her in the first place!" James voice had risen to a yell.

Sirius' jaw clenched but he didn't respond.

"And you don't even defend yourself! Is it because you know I'm right and you're just dragging this on because you enjoy being the bloody centre of attention all time or someth-"

"FOR FUCK'S SAKE PRONGS - I'M SCARED, OK? CAN YOU JUST SHUT UP NOW?" Sirius exploded, ripping James' arms away from him. The two stared each other down, not even realising that as Sirius' voice had been reaching a crescendo, the dormitory door had been opened by Remus, Peter and Hugo, coming up from dinner themselves. They watched the two boys glaring daggers at each other with open mouths for a moment.

"Crap," Hugo muttered eventually, breaking the silence. "I knew avoiding that fight the yesterday was too good to be true."

"We'll just … leave you two to sort this out," Remus said, and the three of them backed out of the room, closing the door with snap behind them.

James and Sirius were still for another moment before James decided that now would be a good time to break the tension. "What do you mean you're scared? Scared of what?"

"It doesn't matter," Sirius snapped, gathering up his discarded clothes hastily.

"Well clearly it does because it's preventing you from doing things!" James replied loudly. He watched Sirius for a moment before deciding to try a different approach. "Sirius, I'm your best mate. If you can't tell me, who can you tell?"

Sirius hesitated in his movements. "She just gets under my skin," he murmured finally. "And right into my head – and not in that irritating way. She knows exactly what to say to get me to open up and I'm afraid if I open up too much, she'll decide I'm not worth the effort and leave me."

James stood stock still for a moment, shocked that Sirius had finally given up and talked. He took a second to process what Sirius said. "I really don't think that will happen," James said, walking to sit on the bed, beside where Sirius stood. "And besides, you open up to me. You're doing it right now. How's that any different?" Sirius gave him a look. "Apart from the obvious difference in genitals," James rolled his eyes. "But I could walk away and leave you to your problems any day. What makes her so different?"

"It's just different. A different kind of lo-friendship," Sirius stuttered. James eyes widened. Sirius, knowing he'd been caught, began to speak as if his words were a waterfall. "How do you do it - live with Lily rejecting you every single day? How can you make yourself vulnerable like that?"

James, taken aback at the direction the conversation had gone, answered slowly, "It's worth it. Worth getting rejected all the time for the chance that one day she might say yes." He paused. "Even though I have been a bit immature about asking her out. I can see why she's never taken me seriously."

Sirius thought upon James' answer; the part was relevant to him. The end result was worth taking a chance. Now that the answer was laid out in the open for all to see, he was wondering how he missed it. But there was still the matter of his family.

"But it's not just that is it?" James asked, seeing his face. "There's more."

Sirius swallowed. "My family," he said hoarsely. "They're so closely associated with the Death Eaters. You know Regulus has been hanging out with Lucius and Bellatrix more and more and there is no way in the world that they aren't involved with You-Know-Who somehow. If Violet and I … if we … it would put her in their line of sight. What if they targeted her to get to me?"

"Violet's a big girl," James said. "She can make her own choices."

"But does she even understand - "

"Sirius, she understands! She knows about your folks. And besides, right now, we're at Hogwarts; Dumbledore is here and she's always surrounded by friends. And she's a pretty competent dueller, if her mock duelling Mulciber in Defence Against the Dark Arts the other day was anything to go by," James snickered and even Sirius allowed himself a smile at the memory. "If Violet was afraid to be around you because of your family, she would've left you alone by now."

It was a though James held all the answers to life mysteries, because Sirius suddenly felt as if a weight was lifted from his shoulders.

"Ok," Sirius said. "Ok. I feel a lot better now."

"Good," James slapped him on the back. "Now put a shirt on, will you?"

* * *

Violet stared at the headline of the Daily Prophet.

**'MUGGLE FAMILY KILLED BY DEATH EATERS'.**

"It's horrible, isn't it," said Lily, as she sat down for breakfast. "They're becoming more and more open about the things they do."

"No," Violet said. "The Prophet is just beginning to report them truthfully now. Stuff like this has been going on for the past couple years. Most of it was just covered up by the Ministry or hasn't been made a big deal of." Lily stared at her wide eyed and Violet realised her mistake. "That's just what I've heard anyway. Did you know that a muggle saw it?" she asked, quickly changing the subject.

"The family being killed?" Lily asked.

"Yes. Look." She showed her the paragraph.

**_A muggle greengrocer (whose name is not being printed for his protection) witnessed the horrific deaths of the family at the hands of three masked Death Eaters. He stayed safe and hidden between a brick wall and some overgrown shrubbery. When Aurors and Ministry officials arrived on the scene, babbled to them about flashes of green light – indicating the Killing Curse. The man subsequently had his mind erased but not before asking a chilling question; "If we can be killed like that, then what chance do we have?" As such, the Ministry is asking all magical folk to place what protections spells they can…_**

"It's a good idea to place protection spells on muggle houses," Lily said, after quietly reading the rest of the article. "I wish I could go home and do it myself for my Mum and Petunia."

"I'm sure if you ask Dumbledore, he could arrange something," Violet told her, looking at the Headmaster, seated at the table and engaged in a conversation with Professor McGonagall.

"Have you seen the – oh you have," Remus said, sitting down with Peter, Sirius and James, catching sight of the Prophet in front of them.

"More importantly, have you seen Lucius Malfoy?" James sneered. The six of them glanced over at the Slytherin table, most of whom looked perfectly content, even happy, in contrast the majority of students in the other houses. Lucius Malfoy, specifically, looked particularly smug.

Lily took the opportunity to find Severus at the table, and felt her heart drop when he, too, looked unperturbed. He looked over directly at her, his dark eyes piercing. She swallowed and looked back down at her breakfast, her appetite gone.

At this point, Marlene came dashing into the hall. "Have you seen the article my mother wrote?" she asked breathlessly, her eyes wide. Her eyes fell onto the newspaper headline in Violet's hands. "That's it there."

"Your mother wrote this?" Lily asked, grateful for the distraction.

Marlene nodded. "Look at the byline." Everyone did and surely enough, Althea Kane was credited with writing the article. "My sisters -" Marlene had two sisters in third year, Katherine and Rhiannon "- and I were owled a copy just then. And it had a letter from Dad saying to watch our backs from now on, just in case … well, you know." Her eyes darted to the Slytherin table.

Sirius turned back around to see Violet tracing the words 'Death Eaters', an anxious look on her face. "Are you alright?" he asked, leaning across the table to speak softly to her.

"I'm fine," she answered, a small tense smile on her face. "I'm just worried about dad, that's all. He hasn't been all that … together ... since mum and I just hope he remembers to put up protective enchantments." Even as she said the word 'mum', she remembered the fight she had with Sirius the day she left before the holidays, and she could see that he remembered it too.

"It's ok, you don't have to tell me about her," Sirius said hurriedly.

"No! No, I …" Violet breathed deeply. "I want too," she told him honestly. "But it's not an easy thing to talk about. And now probably isn't the best time." She said, glancing back down at the newspaper again.

"Right, of course," Sirius said. "We've got time though. We have a free together right before dinner so we-"

"Morning!" Lucy chirped, sitting down beside Sirius and kissing him on the cheek, oblivious to the general atmosphere of the Hall.

Amber followed her, taking a seat next to Violet. She caught sight of the newspaper. "Is this todays?" she asked incredulously, almost snatching it from Violet. "Wow. Things are really getting serious now."

"Vi said these things have been happening for a while, the Prophet just hasn't reported them correctly," Lily said.

Everyone looked at her. "Well, it's true," Violet said defensively. "Ask anyone high up at the Ministry or the Prophet. They haven't wanted to cause a panic."

"Then why would they start now?" Lucy asked doubtfully.

Violet shrugged. "Maybe they just can't ignore it anymore."

"And how would you know that?" Lucy asked harshly.

Everyone was looking at Lucy now. "Luce … are you feeling ok?" Sirius asked, placing a hand on her back. "You're being kind of snappy."

"Am I?" Lucy sounded genuinely surprised. "I'm sorry. I'm just worried. I don't want any of this to be true." She leaned into Sirius, who immediately put his arm around her and rested his chin on the top of her head. He locked eyes with James, who was raising his eyebrows as Violet focused intently on the newspaper again.

* * *

Lucy knew there was something going on the second she walked into the Great Hall and saw Sirius leaning across the table, talking closely with Violet.

They were friends again now and that meant Sirius would be drawn to Violet more and more and Lucy knew that if she didn't keep an eye on them, something could – and probably would – happen between them that would ruin it with her and Sirius.

She watched them in the classes they shared all day. Sirius didn't ignore her but his attention was divided between her and Violet and the Marauders. As a result, he wasn't nearly as affectionate with her as he used to be. Twice she waited for Sirius to walk together from one class to the other but he'd already begun walking away with Violet. They were trivial things, but they culminated to reduce Lucy to an anxious, frustrated wreck by lunch time. Lucy knew that the next class they had was Divination – and it was only the two of them out of all the Gryffindors. There was nothing she could do about that. But the lesson after was when they had a free class together and Lucy had a good idea of where they would go. "Amber," she whispered, turning to her. "I need you to cover for me in Arithmancy. Say I have a bad headache or something. "

Amber frowned. "Why?" Lucy indicated to Sirius and Violet, who were laughingly trying to get James to eat his peas. "Because of Sirius and Violet? Why? What are going to-" It suddenly clicked in Amber's mind that both Violet and Sirius had their free when they had Arithmancy. "Luce, don't you think that's going a bit far?" she asked, alarmed.

Lucy shook her head vigorously. "I have to make sure nothing happens," she insisted, before turning back to her plate, oblivious to Amber watching her with concern.

* * *

"I swear that man is slipping more and more everyday," Sirius muttered to Violet as they left the divination classroom and headed out to the tree they liked to sit under. Professor Thenaider had insisted that Sirius would be trapped in a cage of despair for many years because of a betrayal a dear friend would one day make. Sirius had rolled his eyes and nodded, pretending to listen closely, before politely asking if he could get back to his tea leaves, as Violet tried to suppress her own laughter.

"You never know," Violet said. "A dear friend might actually betray you."

Sirius snorted. "It was the vaguest prediction I've ever heard and we're in a class with Naveen Patil."

"At least it wasn't nearly as tragic as the usual predictions," Violet reasoned, as they reached the tree, and sat down against the trunk.

"I think I prefer them," Sirius replied, stretching out and relaxing against the tree, staring out at the lake. They fell into silence and Sirius desperately wanted bring up Violet's mother, but was afraid too. They had only just become friends again.

After another moment, Violet spoke up. "Are you going to ask or not?"

"What?" Sirius nearly yelped.

"You know what," Violet nearly laughed at him. She drew her knees in close to her. "About my mum."

"Oh, right," Sirius said airily. "Yeah, that."

Violet rolled her eyes. "You're a terrible liar." She sat up straight and faced him. "What I tell you … can you keep it quiet? Just until I'm ready to tell other people."

Sirius nodded. "I won't tell a soul."

And Violet knew he wouldn't. "Well, first of all, she's not actually dead," Violet began. "Just missing. She left us, you see."

Sirius frowned. "Why would she do that?"

Violet swallowed and made an effort to sound casual. "Well, she killed my grandparents."

* * *

**Aaaaannnnddd I think I'll leave it there for now ;) **

**Guys, thank you all so much for the favourites and the follows and the reviews - I absolutely love reading them and I love that people actually like this! And I'm going to try and work in a little bit of what people want to see happen but ultimately, I've already got the plot made up in my head right until the very end, so what some people really want to see might be a bit difficult. I promise to try hard to fit some things in though!**

**Until my next chapter (probably within the next week; we'll see how my schoolwork goes)!**


	10. Chapter 10

Sirius blinked. "She killed … your grandparents?"

Violet nodded. "My dad's. They're both squibs, you see. As far as pureblood fanatics are concerned, they're a disgrace to wizarding bloodlines because of it. You know, my dad is even considered a muggleborn by some people."

"But … why would she do that?" Sirius asked. "She married your father so wouldn't she have known …"

"Oh, yes she did," Violet agreed. "At first she ... tolerated it. She told me once when I was a child that it wasn't the best of circumstances - falling in love someone who could be considered a muggleborn - but if she wanted to stay with my dad, then she had to accept that his immediate family wasn't … idyllic. But he had other relatives, who had magical lineage and I guess that made up for it in her eyes. And for most of our lives, we were pretty content - although, mum didn't like visiting dad's parents, and dad didn't like visiting her parents. But that could be normal for any family. But then, You-Know-Who appeared on the scene and began uniting people with the same ideals. And mum still had friends who were in that sort of a social circle. You know the one," Violet said.

Sirius nodded. Unfortunately he did know all too well.

"Anyway, she began going to meetings. She'd come back late at night, pale and exhausted looking but so … inspired," she said, her eyes glazing over slightly. "I remember the night early in the summer, just before it happened. I came home later than usual because I was out with friends in the nearby muggle town – and I always had to sneak around when I did that because of mum - and when I got back they were arguing. And it was …" she shook her head, as if in disbelief. "I'd never heard them fight like that. My dad was talking about muggle killings and how muggleborns were being persecuted by Death Eaters over in Britain and if my mum was going to support that kind of thing, than he didn't want to be with her anymore." She swallowed. "And then mum was saying that he was being ridiculous and flying off the handle and dad said something along the lines of 'then you'd better off me too because your friends say I'm as good as a muggleborn'. At this point, I'd hidden by the staircase just outside the kitchen, where they were, so I could listen. Mum was shouting back that he had magical blood from his other family members and he clearly wasn't a mudblood – that's the word she used – and then dad as good as threw her out of the house and told her not to come back if she was going to continue to support this. And she left. She just walked up the front path, out the gate and apparated away. And I snuck out the back door and went around to the front and pretended to come home for the first time that night and he believed me." Her eyes blurred with unexpected tears as she remembered it, but she didn't let them fall. "I asked about mum but he just said he didn't know where she was. We got the news the next day that my dad's parents had been found dead in their home and, with mine and my dad's testimony of the fight the night before, there was enough evidence to strongly suggest that it had been mum who killed them."

Sirius didn't know what to say and after a still, tense moment, he told her that.

"Who would?" Violet laughed humourlessly. "Dad and I haven't even mentioned her since it happened. Even when he applied to come back to Britain, he didn't mention her, although they all knew anyway." She sighed heavily. "So now you know."

"I'm sorry."

Violet looked at him incredulously. "Why? You had nothing to do with it."

"Well, I know that, but I've been such a prat to you these past couple of weeks," Sirius replied.

Violet considered him for a moment before saying, "Yeah, I guess you have been. But it wasn't without reason. I was unnecessarily cold to you at the end of last term. I wouldn't have wanted to speak to me much either."

Sirius swallowed nervously. "Well, erm, about that … that wasn't actually the reason I began avoiding you."

Violet frowned slightly. "Then … what was?" Sirius didn't answer right away and it worried Violet. "Sirius?"

"I was afraid of getting too close to you," Sirius told her, staring resolutely at the grass. "And I was afraid that I'd open up to you and you'd leave me. And I was afraid for you – if my family or the people they're close to found out how I-" he broke off.

Violet watched him, her mind racing. How he what? She wanted to scream at him to tell her, but she decided to leave it for the moment and focus on what he'd said before that. She shifted closer to him and put a hand on his arm. "Sirius, I'd never leave you because of something you told me. I'm pretty sure you can't beat what my mother did."

Sirius snorted. "You haven't met my family."

"No," Violet agreed, with a rueful smile. "But from what you've told me, I can only assume they're as bad as my mum. I guess we're just stuck with each other," she finished cheerily.

Sirius grinned at the ground before he glanced up at Violet, who was smiling at him. "I suppose I could live with that." He suddenly became aware of just how very close they were sitting. He could see every little detail on Violet's face; every individual eyelash she had, even tiny, light freckles she had that he hadn't noticed before. His eyes darted down to her lips for a split second, still curved upwards, before he began to talk again. "I promised James and Lily that I would tell you-"

"Sirius!" Lucy shouted. She'd jumped out of a cluster of trees and shrubbery by the path up to the castle, if Sirius hadn't been mistaken. Sirius whipped his head around and Violet sighed in disappointment as reality hit her. What was Lucy doing out here anyway?

"Lucy, what are you doing?" Sirius asked, irritated.

"The real question is what are you doing?" she exclaimed.

"Talking to Vi," Sirius said, a touch of guilt in his voice. Violet picked up on it and bit her lip. "What are you doing out here? Don't you have class?"

"Don't try to change the subject," Lucy retorted, balling her hands into fists by her side. She turned her glare to Violet. "Ever since she got here she's had you wrapped around her little finger and now I find you_ THIS_ close-"

"What?" Sirius exclaimed.

"- all because she's so innocent and – and fragile with her dead mother and that's terrible, it is, but-"

"Lucy, what are saying?" Sirius barked, frustrated.

"You just feel sorry for her because she's had a tough time and so she's - "

"What are you accusing her of, exactly?" Sirius exclaimed angrily. "Trying to lure me away from – from who? You?"

Violet thought of the time Alexa had seen them together in this very spot and said mildly, "I feel like this has happened before." Sirius nearly laughed, but his anger was too great. Violet stood up. "I'm going to head up to the castle. You two can sort this out by yourselves."

"No, Vi, don't go," Sirius said as she began walking up.

"It's ok," Violet called back. "I'll see you at dinner." With a polite smile directed both at Sirius and Lucy, she turned and headed up the path to the Great Hall.

* * *

Violet was sitting with Marlene, James, Remus and Peter when Sirius and Lucy arrived in the Great Hall, half an hour into dinner. On the surface they looked fine, but there was something bubbling just below the surface and they all knew it, except for Peter who seemed oblivious.

"Oh good, they have roast beef tonight," Lucy said, sitting down.

Sirius sat next to her glaring silently into space.

James exchanged a glance with Violet, who shrugged slightly in response.

"Did you see the house points coming into the Hall," Lucy asked them all. "Gryffindor's coming first!"

And the conversation continued from there. As dinner went on, Sirius caught Violet's eye as he was eating and he smiled faintly at her, a gesture she returned, relieved. Part of her had been worried Sirius would go back to avoiding her.

After dinner, they all walked up to the common room together. Sirius fell into stride next to her and said to her quietly but with a casual air, "Can you meet me in the common room just after midnight tonight?" Violet frowned slightly, obviously confused, but nodded and Sirius went back to the front of the group where Lucy was walking with Marlene and Peter.

They spent the evening in the common room, where Sirius did not directly engage her in conversation again. When they all went up to their own dormitories, Sirius locked eyes with Violet and she nodded, as if to say, that yes, she would be here.

Then he kissed Lucy good night - quickly and on the cheek, not nearly as affectionately as usual - and she, Violet and Marlene went up to the dormitories. Mary, Amber and Lily came up a little later and the six of them went to bed by eleven, but Violet sat up, watching the hands tick on her watch with the red velvet of her bed hangings concealing her from view.

At five past twelve, Violet stuck her head out to peer around the darkened dormitory. She could hear her five roommates breathing slowly, deeply and Violet hoped that they really were asleep.

She pulled on a heavy, knitted jumper over her singlet and pyjama shorts, grabbed her wand and slipped her feet into soft-soled shoes, before darting quickly to the door, opening it half way and slipping through, shutting it with a soft click behind her.

She crept down the spiral staircase to the common room, which was glowing faintly orange from the dying embers in the fireplace. After a quick look around, she realised that no one was there and wondered what Sirius had called her down here for.

"Hey!" Sirius whispered, as he popped out of thin air beside her and she jumped, pressing a hand to her mouth to stop herself from screaming. He smirked at her fright and she glared and hit him on the shoulder.

"How did you do that?" she asked and even as she said it, her eyes drifted to the silvery cloak that she'd held once for James before. "Is that ..."

"An invisibility cloak? Yeah. It's been in James' family for generations apparently," Sirius said. "But we get to borrow it for tonight. Perks of being a marauder." He grinned at her.

"Will we even fit?" Violet asked.

Sirius nodded. "We can usually fit all four of us under it if we bend a little," Sirius said. "So we should be alright.

Violet raised an eyebrow. "And what would you four need to be sneaking around under an invisibility cloak for?"

Sirius only winked, before he threw the cloak over himself and Violet, and together, they headed out the portrait hole. The Fat Lady, accustomed to the shenanigans the Marauders got up too, whispered quietly as she swung open, "Don't expect me to stick around in my frame forever! If you aren't back by two, I'll be in the monks' painting on the fifth floor and you can come and get me yourselves."

Sirius and Violet made their way around a corner and into a shallow alcove, where Sirius, still under the cloak, pulled out some parchment.

"What's that?" Violet whispered.

"Me, James, Remus and Peter made it," Sirius whispered back. "Watch." He pulled out his wand and tapped it. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Violet's eyes widened and her jaw dropped as ink began unfurling on the page, forming lines and words. It was a map of the castle, she could see. "Look, we're here," Sirius said, pointing to their names next to each other. "We have to find Filch on here and make sure he's out of the way …" Sirius murmured to himself, scanning the pages.

"This is amazing. You four made this?"

"Yep," Sirius replied, popping the 'p'.

"People do not give you lot enough credit," Violet said, sounding stunned.

"Oh, we know," Sirius agreed. "There he is. Down on the second floor. It looks like there are some prefects on the sixth floor, but lucky for us, they're on the wrong side. We're going to the fourth floor, by the way," Sirius told her. "Mischief managed," he muttered, tapping the parchment. The ink disappeared. He slid the parchment back into his jacket pocket and took Violet's hand. "Come on," he said.

* * *

They arrived at a large, ornately framed mirror on the fourth floor, taking a short cut that Violet didn't even know existed. Sirius reached out from under the cloak and tapped the mirror with his wand, murmuring something incomprehensible, before the mirror's glass seemingly melted away. Violet looked apprehensively into the dark space but Sirius was already moving into it, so she, also still under the cloak, had to follow.

Behind her, the glass reappeared and Violet could see out of it into the corridor quite clearly. It was the only source of light in the room, no matter how dim, so she stayed by it. Sirius whipped off the invisibility cloak and dropped it to the floor, before waving his wand to light three lanterns on the wall of what Violet could now see was a vast passageway, narrowing a little before leading off somewhere she couldn't see. The empty space made her nervous, so she moved closer into the warm light and asked Sirius, "So, what's the reason for all this secrecy?"

"Lucy doesn't want us to be alone together anymore," Sirius said bluntly.

"You're alone with me now," Violet pointed out, after a second.

"I know. I was supposed to just tell you after dinner. But I thought that was stupid," Sirius told her.

"The whole idea is stupid," Violet said bluntly. "We're friends. And we have a free lesson together. What are we supposed to do then? Find some other people and just sit by them the whole time?"

Sirius was silent.

"We are! Oh, sacre bleu, that is ridiculous!" Violet exclaimed. She looked at Sirius, standing there with his hands in his pockets, looking unhappy and she instantly regretted what she said. "But, look. I guess as long as I'll still be your friend, if it's what you want to do – what you have to do to make Lucy happy - then … it's fine, I guess."

"It isn't though," Sirius muttered.

"What? What do you mean?"

Sirius swallowed. "It isn't what I want to do." He looked up at Violet, standing stock still, bathed in the yellow light from the lanterns._ Take a chance_. "I want … you. I was upset over the holidays and – and afraid to get close to you and… Lucy was just there so I – so we – it was mistake. Being with her, I mean. She's like - like bloody Alexa Payne all over again but it's worse because we're all in the same house this time and you share a dormitory with her and it would probably tear the all the sixth year Gryffindors apart …" he trailed off, realising Violet had not moved.

"It would," she said after a second, swallowing and nodding slowly. "It would tear us all apart." Violet looked at him with her magnificent blue eyes, devoid of any emotion, and began walking slowly to the mirror entrance.

"Wait," Sirius called out. "Wait, that's it? I tell you all of that and you just decide to… to leave?"

Violet stopped but didn't turn around. "Well what do you want me to do, Sirius?"

Her tone was so even and calm, it made him angry. "I don't know. Anything! You could start by not suppressing what you actually feel for other people's sakes – that could be a start!"

Violet's jaw clenched and unclenched. "I don't know what you mean."

"You! You never think about what you want! It's like you're a … a ... roobot," he said. "You know those muggle things?"

Violet snickered in spite of herself. "A _robot_, do you mean? How do you know about them?"

"I read the muggle newspapers in the summer. There were reviews for … for fillems about them," Sirius said. Violet laughed softly at his pronunciation of films. "This isn't funny! You're like a robot. Whenever someone does something you don't like you smile or cover it up with a joke and pretend it doesn't hurt you." Violet's smile dropped. "It's not healthy! You can't keep subduing yourself like that. Honestly tell me what you want right now and then we can go."

"I want to go back to bed," Violet said quietly, moving to the mirror again.

"You said you wouldn't leave me if I opened up to you!" Sirius said, desperate. Violet stopped, just at the mirror. "You're breaking your promise to me." Sirius could see just from her stillness that he had gotten through to her somewhat and he strode over to her taking her hand and pulling her around to face him. "Vi, just tell me that you don't want me like that. We'll forget I ever said anything and we'll back go to the way things were-"

He was cut off as she kissed him. For a split second he just stood, shocked at the sudden turn of events. But then he came to his senses and kissed her back, almost in relief, and pulled her closer.

But then Violet broke away, staring at him as if she'd done something unspeakable (and in her mind, she had, because he was with Lucy, and even though she didn't like it she had to respect that). "I'm sorry. I-I don't know what came over me-"

"No, shush," Sirius said, effectively shutting her up by kissing her again. He could feel her laughing reluctantly against his lips and he couldn't help beaming himself as he pulled away after she conceded.

She bit her lip, trying to keep from smiling back but failed. "Ok," she said softly. "So it might be my turn to apologise for being an idiot."

"Nah," Sirius grinned. "You only needed me to give you a poke or two in the right direction."

"What are we going to do now?" Violet asked, her smile fading as she realised what a mess they were in.

Sirius, too, lost his smile. "I should … I should tell her."

Violet bit her lip. "But that would hurt her."

Sirius frowned. "Wouldn't it hurt her to … to not tell as well?"

"Well, yes," Violet acknowledged with a heavy sigh. She and Sirius were quiet for a moment, thinking through their options. Or rather, Violet was thinking, Sirius was busy marveling at the fact that he was currently standing there with his arms wrapped around her waist. "Do you still want to be with-"

"No," Sirius said quickly.

Violet tried to ignore how much that pleased her.

"Maybe I should … break it off with her … but we should just keep 'this' quiet for a little while. So we don't make her think we're making fun of her," Sirius suggested hesitantly.

Violet paused for a moment before nodding slowly. "If she found out we were hiding it though, she'd be mad."

"I know," Sirius agreed.

"She'd probably kick me out of the dormitory," Violet half laughed.

"That wouldn't be so bad," Sirius mused. "You could come and sleep with me." He waggled his eyebrows at her and grinned, and she raised an eyebrow at him. "Right, yeah. That was a bit insensitive. Sorry."

"Besides," Violet continued. "It doesn't have to be for ages. Just to give her a little bit of time to … to let you go."

"Yeah," Sirius nodded enthusiastically. "It'll be hard keeping us a secret from the others though," he said. "Maybe we should just … no."

"Just what?"

"Nothing."

"Tell me!"

Sirius cringed internally. "I was going to suggest we wait until we start seeing each other. Just in case we – or I, really, since you seem pretty good at hiding things - screw up."

"Oh," Violet swallowed. It did make sense. If they were found out, there could be quite a few people upset with them; primarily Lucy, but also Lucy's other friends and Connor and maybe even Alexa Payne and her group. "I mean … is that what you want?"

Sirius hesitated. "No, I don't want that. Do you want that?"

"... No."

* * *

The next morning, Violet woken up by Marlene shaking her. "-let, you need to get up now otherwise you'll miss breakfast!"

Violet sat up and checked her watch, resting on her bedside table and yelped, realising that she really was late.

"You slept in much later than usual," Lily said to her, as Violet threw the covers off of her. "Any reason why?"

Violet barely glanced at Lily, "No. Why?"

Lily shrugged but turned away, her suspicions remained.

* * *

**So I've had a terrible couple of days but editing this while listening to the Arctic Monkeys and the copious amounts of heavy rain outside was pretty therapeutic. So I'm quite ok now. Your follows and favourites and, in particular, reviews made me feel a lot better too - they really did make me smile when I was feeling miserable. Thank you all so much. (_Starcrier _- I'd like to say that this is the worst thing that happens/I make reference too, but we all know I'd be lying, because we all know how the basic story of the Marauders goes. I'm just going to say sorry in advance, in case I crush any more hearts). **

**Also, I just want to point out I made a mistake in a previous chapter, where I said Connor Ollivander was Head Boy, but also said Frank Longbottom was Head Boy. Clearly that isn't the case - Frank is the one and only Head Boy, and Connor is simply a prefect. I've gone back and fixed this, so if you're just reading now and didn't get that, don't even worry about it. In fact, maybe even forget that you read this and the fact that I made this mistake. Onwards, I say. **


	11. Chapter 11

Violet woke up to the sound of sniffling for the fourth time that week. Internalising a groan, she pulled the covers over her head and tried to ignore the guilt that had settled into the pit of her stomach as Lucy talked rapidly to Amber, her eyes red and her voice thick.

"… doesn't even make any sense," Lucy was saying. "I just went down to breakfast and he said out of the blue that he needed to talk to me."

Amber, who had heard the story about fifty times at this point, just nodded, stroking her hair, a sympathetic look on her face. She shot a pacifying look at Marlene, who was glaring at Lucy and changing out of her pyjamas and into her uniform (Marlene was not as patient about this kind of thing as Amber was).

"I mean, I don't think I did anything," Lucy insisted._ That isn't entirely true_, Violet thought despite herself. _You told him that he couldn't be alone with me_. With a sigh she pulled the covers down and stared up at the ceiling, reflecting on the past week.

On Monday, she sat with the other girls in her dormitory. They were down before all the boys and when they arrived, Sirius slid into the seat next to Lucy and spoke quietly too her. The next second, they two had gotten up and left the Great Hall. Neither of them had come back to breakfast and when they went to their first class – Charms - Sirius was there but Lucy wasn't. He'd exchanged a small, tight smile with Violet, James and Lily, and James said quietly, "He must of down it then."

"Done what?" Lily had asked, unable to resist.

He wondered how he should convey this information. "Broke up with Lucy," he said, much to casually. Violet had wanted to hit her head against a wall.

Lily gaped and whipped around to stare at Violet, who'd managed to maintain a straight face throughout the exchange. "Really?" Violet had said unconcernedly, before hurrying to her seat next to Marlene before Lily could say anything.

And perhaps, Violet pondered, Lily didn't put two and two together – that'd she'd been out late the night before and that morning Sirius and Lucy broke up.

Violet was wrong, of course. Lily suspected something the second James had said the words. And she'd certainly given Violet enough hints over the past few days – which Violet would have noticed if she hadn't spent the past few days sneaking around with Sirius in between classes and after dinner.

It would be wrong to say that Sirius and Violet didn't feel guilt when they were together over Lucy's particular unhappiness. But love – or a sense of strong affection, since neither of them were (as of yet) willing to admit the depth of their feelings – was known to cause selective blindness. Just look at Lily and Severus Snape - although Lily's love for Snape was very different to his love for her. Violet quickly learned this watching Severus watch Lily in class and at meals – she began doing so after the attack.

Marlene Kane was, arguably, one of the prettiest, most well-off girls in school. She had big, light hazel eyes and an aura that crackled with infectious energy, drawing attention wherever she went. Her hair was a light blonde and very long and she was tall and willowy. Overall, her appearance made her look delicate but Marlene was anything but. She was outgoing and adventurous and had a surprisingly firm slap (as Sirius Black learned in fourth year when he tried to kiss her behind a Christmas tree – there were no hard feelings now, of course, and they both regarded the incident as a mere bonding experience).

Perhaps Marlene's hardiness and exuberant personality came from her family. She had three older brothers, Bradley, Devin and Flynn who had all graduated, and two younger sisters, Rhiannon and Katherine, who were twins and currently in third year. Her parents were both from large pure blooded families; her mother, Althea Greengrass, married Daniel Kane (also a pureblood but from a family largely considered blood traitors; much like the Potter's) in a small ceremony two years after they graduated, much to the displeasure of Althea's family, who would from then on also consider her a blood traitor. The undesirable marriage was not unexpected, however; Althea was sorted in Gryffindor, much like Sirius was – unlike Sirius, however, her sorting was rather unexpected, as Althea had been thought to be the epitome of the perfect pureblooded daughter. Daniel himself had only one brother, who had three children and he was still very close with his parents. Growing up as a middle child in such a big family- with three older brothers, two younger sisters and three younger cousins, Marlene learned to fend for herself and stand out from a crowd.

Unfortunately, it was Marlene's family's blood traitor reputation and, perhaps more specifically, the article her mother had written, that would see her viciously attacked on Hogwarts grounds.

Violet sat up in bed and opened her bed hangings, specifically not looking at Amber and Lucy who were still seated together on Lucy's bed. Lily was still asleep; her bed hangings still closed, and Mary was slowly pulling herself out of her pyjamas. Marlene was already fully dressed and doing her hair in front of the bathroom mirror. Violet slid out of bed and padded into the bathroom, unwilling to stay in the bedroom and listen to Lucy anymore.

Marlene yawned loudly in front of the mirror brushed her hair and tied it up into a ponytail. Then she undid it and tied it up again. And again. And again.

Violet groggily eyed her in the mirror. "Are you alright?"

"Hm? Oh yes."

"You seem kind of twitchy."

Marlene rounded on her, looking nervous. "Do I?"

Violet, who had never known Marlene to be nervous, stared at her with a growing sense of alarm. "What's going on? Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Marlene fiddled with her hairbrush. "I'm just meeting Robbie for breakfast this morning."

"Oh. Well, that makes sense," Violet said, her worries elevated. She turned back to the mirror, focusing on her own appearance.

"Does it?" Marlene asked, now alarmed herself. "Why?"

Violet smirked. "Do I even need answer that?"

Marlene let out an enormous breath she'd been holding. "Is it that obvious?"

Violet laughed. "Yes. Why don't you just ask him to go to the next Hogsmeade trip with you or something? Haven't you already gone just as friends?"

Marlene stared at her as if she had all the answers in the world. "Yes … but what if he says no?"

Violet eyed her, thinking of the look Robbie would give Marlene when she wasn't looking and said confidently, "He won't." Marlene crossed her arms, leaned on the counter and stared at the floor. Violet realised she was still fretting, sighed and put down the mascara she was unscrewing and faced her. "Marlene Kane, Robbie McKinnon will definitely not turn you down. In fact, I think the only reason he hasn't asked you out himself yet is because you intimidate him."

"What? I don't intimidate him! We help each other with homework and hang out all the time. Why would I intimidate him?"

"Well, you're really smart – no, not just smart; intelligent - and you're also very pretty and you're friends with just about everyone and – oh yes, you kicked his ass in Quidditch," Violet told her matter of factly.

Marlene debated this uncertainly. "That's not true ... and I wouldn't say I kicked his ass. I just got ahead an inch or two."

"An inch makes all the difference," Violet said, wisely, turning back to the mirror.

"You just quoted James Potter," Marlene snorted, despite herself.

"I should, after all the times I've had to listen to him go on and on about Quidditch tactics in potions," Violet replied dryly. She and James had been partnered together by Professor Slughorn at the beginning of the new term, because he had finally realised that putting Sirius and James together was not wise. "But really, Marlene, just go to breakfast, and ask him. I guarantee you, he will not say no."

* * *

Violet left the dormitory later then everyone else that morning. This morning she was in no particular rush as she had a free with Marlene and Mary (and maybe even Robbie, as he sometimes joined them) up first, meaning she could run down to the kitchens if she didn't have time for a proper breakfast.

A hand gripped hers and another arm slid around her waist, pulling her close and dragging her into a shallow alcove about two metres back. She knew who it was immediately, of course.

"Good morning," Sirius smirked as she turned to face him.

Violet smiled at him but asked, "Don't you think we should stop this kind of thing?"

"Stop what?" Sirius asked, pressing her against the wall and resting his forehead against hers.

"Risk being found out?" Violet said.

"Don't worry," Sirius said. "We'll be fine." He kissed her and she complied, choosing to forget her concerns for the moment.

"Actually," Violet said, pulling apart from him, "That reminds me. When are we planning on telling people?"

Sirius frowned. "I was thinking maybe we should wait a little while longer."

"Well, yeah, I mean obviously not for another couple of weeks," Violet agreed.

"No, I mean even longer than that," Sirius said.

Violet stared at him. "Why?" she asked slowly.

Sirius just shrugged.

"Oh no," Violet said, half laughing. "We are not doing this 'hiding things from each other thing' again. We've done enough of that. Tell me now why you want to wait even longer or watch me walk away."

Sirius couldn't help chortling a little. "I guess we have done a lot of that." Violet gave him a small smile, but waited. Seeing she wasn't going to be distracted, Sirius continued. "I'm worried about what my family will do when they find out. They're already friendly with so many of Voldemort's circle and I don't want you on their radar because of me."

Violet frowned. "Sirius, I'm probably already on their radar, what with my mum anyway. Unless she's forgotten about me," she shrugged. The idea both frightened and relieved her. When it all came down to it, despite the terrible crime her mother had committed against her grandparents, the horrible things she said to Violet's father and attempting to keep her from being associated with all muggle-related things, she was still her mother. Violet could still remember being on her mother's lap reading stories like "The Fountain of Fair Fortune" and "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot" before bedtime in her pyjamas. All the bad memories in the world couldn't make the good ones go away and she hated it, because logically, she should hate her mother and her mind told her she did – but it seemed like there would always be even the tiniest of places for her in Violet's heart. "You don't have any part to play with that. If anything, I should be the one worrying. I don't even know where my mum is – she could be one of the people in masks going around killing everyone for all I know!"

"Fair point," Sirius agreed dryly. "It doesn't really help with me trying to keep you from being killed though."

"I promise not to get killed," Violet said, a mocking smile on her face as she pulled him closer to her.

"Well, good," Sirius said, leaning down to brush his lips against hers, pressing her against the wall. His hands slid up her waist and under her shirt to rest against the her hips, cold hands touching warm skin.

"We have to get to breakfast," Violet murmured.

"Later," Sirius disagreed, his mouth moving from hers to drift down her neck.

"No, come on," she said, running a hand through his hair, "We should still go in separately. You can go in first and I'll double back and go the long way."

Sirius detached himself from her neck with a ridiculous pout on his face. "Damn your self control," he told her. She laughed and ran a thumb affectionately across his cheek. "But fine. And I can go the long way if you want."

"It's fine," Violet said, pushing herself off the wall. "I'll see you later." She squeezed his hand and left him standing in the alcove.

* * *

Robbie McKinnon scanned the Gryffindor table for Marlene. He couldn't see her anywhere, so he approached her usual group of friends – the ones that were there anyway; three of the Marauders, Mary and Lily, all of whom he was on relatively good terms with.

"Hi Robbie," Lily greeted him, smiling. "Where's Marlene?"

"That's what I was going to ask you guys," he said, taking a seat. "We were supposed to meet outside the kitchens this morning. The kitchens are near the Hufflepuff common room-"

"Oh, we know," James interrupted.

Robbie eyed him uncertainly. "Right. Well, she never showed up. I assumed she'd forgotten so I came up here but I can't find her."

Mary and Lily looked at each other, concern blossoming onto both of their faces. "She was the first one to leave our room this morning," Mary said. "She definitely didn't forget."

The group of them sat looking at each other and a sense of apprehension grew, almost of its own accord.

"I'm sure she's fine," Lily murmured as her stomach turned unpleasantly. "Maybe she was side-tracked by a Professor."

"Yes," Mary agreed slowly, not wanting to remember the time she didn't show up for a meal the previous year. It involved Mulciber and Avery and some hexes that she didn't particularly want to relive. "I'm sure she's just …" she trailed off.

She didn't have to remember – everyone else was remembering for her.

"I'm going to go ask Lucy and Amber if they've seen her," Remus said abruptly, swinging his legs over the bench and hurrying towards the front of the hall where Lucy and Amber were seated with Hugo and some seventh years.

"I'll go check with some of our friends in my house," Robbie said, trying to ignore his growing anxiety.

"Should we tell someone?" Peter asked uncertainly as he left. They were saved from answering with the arrival of Sirius. He took the seat Robbie had left and began piling bacon on his plate.

"What is it?" Sirius asked, noticing their expressions. "What's happened?"

"No one knows where Marlene is," Lily told him.

"Hey, maybe she's with Violet!" James exclaimed.

Sirius shook his head. "No, she's not. I was just …" he trailed off as Lucy, Amber, Frank and Alice arrived back with Remus.

"None of them have seen her," Remus reported worriedly.

"I have to go check something," James said suddenly, getting up, grabbing his bag and beginning to dig through it. Sirius, Peter and Remus caught on quickly. "You guys start searching for her though," he said as they all stood and began running to the exit. "AND SOMEONE TELL A TEACHER JUST IN CASE," he called over his shoulder.

* * *

Violet's definition of "doubling back" today was probably different to anyone else's. "Very long detour" would probably be a better word for it.

She found herself wandering the school grounds near the edge of the forest. She would like to say that she was just revelling in the beauty that was the Hogwarts grounds, but she would be lying to herself. The guilt she felt at going behind Lucy's back was starting to eat her up and she was also beginning to find it unbearable listening to her talk about Sirius.

And was it so bad to just want her to shut up and let Violet revel in happiness for a little bit?

Violet's thoughts wandered over to Lily. Sometimes Violet caught Lily staring at her or Sirius with a thoughtful look on her face and Lily had also caught her sneaking back into the dormitory at least twice. But she had never once brought it up or asked about it and it made Violet wonder if she was perhaps turning a blind eye.

Just as Violet was deciding that she'd gone far enough and should probably be heading back towards to the castle, she heard a shrill, choking scream.

She nearly jumped out of her skin and stared in the direction it had come towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest – in the direction of a clearing where the older Care of Magical Creatures classes sometimes went, she knew. It was mostly safe from the dangerous creatures that lived in the Forest (they preferred to dwell much deeper in) but still surrounded by the dense trees and plant life. She couldn't even see the clearing from where she was. She stood still, listening hard, wondering if she'd imagined it. After a moment, nothing else happened and Violet hesitantly took a step back towards the castle pausing again as a feeling of distinct eeriness and uneasiness enveloped her.

Making a quick decision – a stupid decision, she corrected herself – she pulled out her wand and strode into the trees, her eyes darting around anxiously, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

Her heart was racing. What was she thinking? She'd only ever been in here once with Sirius; she didn't even know if she'd be able to find the way back, for Merlin's sake! After about five minutes, she stopped walking and sighed, deciding that she'd misheard the scream and probably over reacted.

_CRUNCH! SNAP! CRACK!_

Violet dived towards a big twisted tree, taking refuge in between its roots, just in time to see three figures run through the shrubbery in the distance, back towards the castle. A mad cackled drifted over to her as Violet tried to get a look at their faces, but at that point they'd already disappeared.

Violet jumped out of the roots and ran in the direction the figures had come from, abandoning all sense of caution. Someone had to be there. Someone or something and it was probably the person she was now certain she heard screaming.

Just up ahead she could see faint sunlight streaming into the clearing and a huddle on the ground. At first she thought it was a pile of rags, but as she ran towards it, she could make out legs, a shoe and a hand and a shock of sunny blonde hair splayed against the grass.

Marlene?

_Marlene._

She skidded to a halt, fell down to her knees beside her and brushed hair from Marlene's bloodied cheek. Her jaw was bruised an angry dark purple and red and was swelling tremendously and four deep scratches, like fingernails or claws, ran bleeding down her cheek. Her nose was bleeding so much that the side of her head was resting in a small puddle of blood. Her robes were ripped in several places and her arm was twisted in a way that made Violet's stomach churn. Her breath quickened and she stared in horror as her mind raced; what could she do? She knew a few basic healing spells, but Marlene looked so terrible, she was afraid of getting it wrong.

A heartbeat. Did she have a heartbeat? She pressed two fingers lightly to Marlene's wrist to where her pulse point should be. For a couple of moments, she didn't feel anything and her breath caught in her throat. She tried other places on her wrist but there was still nothing. _No._ She moved her fingers to her neck desperately. After a second, she could feel it. Faint, but there. "Thank fuck," she whispered, her voice hoarse.

A quick movement caught her eye and she swung her arm still gripping her wand, aiming a stunning spell at the blur at the edge of her vision, thinking it was the figures who had past her before.

She was wrong, thankfully. It was James, Sirius, Remus and Peter, running to the huddle in the clearing just as she had minutes before.

"Oi!" Peter shouted, as he barely ducked in time to miss the spell.

"Oh thank Merlin it's just you lot!" she cried breathlessly. "I heard screaming so I-"

"Marlene!" James gasped, looking down at her. They four of them stared down at her in shock.

"Pete, run back to the castle. Get Dumbledore. Or Madam Pomfrey… McGonagall. Anyone," Remus told him sharply. "Sirius, go with him."

"But-"

"GO!" Remus shouted and for once, Sirius did as he was told immediately. With a quick, worried look from Marlene unconscious on the ground to Violet beside her, face frozen in a mask of horror, he took off running after Peter.

James couldn't take his eyes off Marlene. "Does she have a heartbeat?"

"Yes," Violet nodded, her heart still pounding. "But we shouldn't move her. We might hurt her more."

"We'll wait for the teachers," Remus said, his voice tight, gripping his wand, and surveying the surrounding trees.

"What happened?" Violet asked, holding Marlene's better hand in her own.

"She was meant to meet McKinnon this morning but she didn't show," James answered, his hands in his hair, gripping tightly as he tried to regain control of his breathing, which was uneven from sprinting all the way down from the castle. "And when he told us, none of us had seen her either and we all remembered what happened to Mary in fifth year-"

"What happened to Mary in fifth year?" Violet asked sharply.

"Something similar to this," James answered, indicating to Marlene. "But less ... blood." Violet swallowed. "Anyway, we started looking for her."

"How did you know to come here?" Violet asked.

James' gaze darted to Remus' and they stared at each other for a moment. "We have a … map, of sorts, and it showed us the two of you down here."

"Oh," Violet said. "The Marauders map, right. That makes sense."

James stared at her, confusion flooding onto his face. "How do you know-"

"Oh my goodness!" Madam Pomfrey was running towards them, with Sirius, Peter and Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Slughorn in a tow. Violet jumped up and backed away to stand beside James and Remus, as they surrounded Marlene. Dumbledore conjured a stretcher that hovered just above the ground, his face grave. Sirius and Peter joined James, Remus and Violet, as Professor Chatzi, the Defence Against the Dark arts teacher for this year, arrived.

They watched as the four Professors and Madam Pomfrey tended to Marlene and carefully lifted her with magic, onto the stretcher Dumbledore had conjured.

Sirius took Violet's hand tightly in his own and squeezed it as they both watch Marlene float on the stretcher with Chatzi, Slughorn and Madam Pomfrey in a tow.

Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall made their way over.

"Your actions were very brave," Dumbledore spoke first, to all of them. "But I admit to being baffled as to how you knew Miss Kane was down here in the first place." He looked at the five of them curiously. The Marauders seemed to gain a sudden interest in the surrounding landscape.

"I found her by accident," Violet said quickly. "I was taking a walk when I thought I heard a scream so I came to see what it was."

Dumbledore focused his gaze onto her. "Again, very brave. You made the right decision to stay at Hogwarts." Violet ignored the four burning, curious eyes staring at her.

"It was also very stupid," McGonagall cut in sharply. "You, in particular, would be very unfamiliar with the Forbidden Forest, Miss Bryce. Although this time you have remained unscathed, next time, please do ensure that you think about informing someone before you act." Sirius' hand on hers tightened.

"I'll do that," Violet replied evenly.

"The five of you did not happen to see Miss Kane's attackers, did you?" Dumbledore questioned.

The four marauders shook their heads.

"I saw people running away from here, but I didn't see who they were," Violet spoke up again.

"Were they students?" Dumbledore asked sharply.

"I…" Violet bit her lip, thinking about the cackle. It seemed familiar but she couldn't place it. "I can't be sure. But they were heading in the direction of the castle, I think."

Wheels turned behind Dumbledore's brilliant blue eyes as he nodded slowly. "I think we're going to have to involve the Ministry in this matter, Professor McGonagall." McGonagall, in turn, sighed heavily, an expression of distaste on her face. "The five of you will have to make statements to whomever they send, I'm afraid. I'm sure that will not be a problem."

The five of them nodded and followed the two Professors back to the castle.

* * *

The Marauders and Violet were waiting outside the hospital wing anxiously. It was quiet until a thought occurred to Violet. "Did you see anyone running back up to the castle?" Violet asked them suddenly. "On the map, I mean."

"No," James replied. "There were a few people outside, but no one stood out to be near enough to the forest."

Violet frowned. "Well, they did run past me a fair bit before you turned up. You must have just missed them."

"How do you know about the map anyway?" James asked. Peter and Remus looked at her.

"I told her," Sirius said. Violet became aware that his fingers were still interlaced with her own. The three others became aware of this too, and their gazes flickered down and up again, expressions of varying shock and, in James' case, a small amount of hesitant triumph, on their faces.

Violet sat staring at the wall, with pursued lips, waiting for an outburst.

"I'm not sure … what to think. Or say," James said, slowly, not wanting to jump to assumptions to quickly.

Sirius snorted. "That's a new one."

"How long has this been going on?" Remus asked quietly.

Violet and Sirius exchanged glances. Of course Moony would be the one to cut straight through the bullshit. "Just under a week," Sirius said. "Right after … or really, the morning that Lucy and I broke up."

Remus put his head in his hands in exasperation.

Peter's eyes widened. "That's … cutting it a bit close isn't it?"

Sirius merely shrugged. "We can't help how we feel."

"But what about Lucy?" Remus said. "You two have been going behind her back … if she found out, wouldn't it destroy her?"

James looked at him. "Would it though?"

"It would," Violet piped up quietly, a jolt of guilt running through her. "She used to talk about Sirius all the time in the dormitory. She's had a crush on you for years apparently," she said directly to him. "We, well, I knew it would hurt her, but I went ahead with it anyway."

"That's what she said about Hugo though, do you remember?" James asked his roommates. "They dated for a while in fifth year. She claimed she had a massive thing for him for years then too. And she scared off Meredith Corner in Ravenclaw who had a bit of a thing for him."

"Oh yeah!" Sirius perked up. "I remember that. And then Hugo found out and I never seen him so angry."

"I'm pretty sure that was the reason they broke up," Peter added.

"But this isn't like what you normally do with girls Padfoot! And it doesn't excuse the fact that you've just gone from her to Violet!" Remus said. "And Violet, that you're ok with it!"

"It's not like that Moony!" Sirius insisted.

"And it's not like we wanted it to be like this!" Violet said defensively. "I've been feeling guilty about this the whole time!"

"And so have I!" Sirius added.

"Then why haven't you-"

"We were just waiting until Lucy calmed down a bit!" Sirius said. "It was always the plan. Look," He leaned forward and everyone shifted over to listen to him. "Remember when Lucy told me she didn't want me to be alone with Vi anymore? I told you in our dormitory that night." They nodded. "That was when … well," he glanced at Violet, wondering how much she wanted him to relay.

"We get it, keep going," James said impatiently.

"Both of us knew if I broke up with Lucy and then Vi and I got together, it would completely fuck up things in their dormitory and with their friends," Sirius continued.

"She might not have-" Remus began. Sirius gave him a look. "Well, yes, she might have been a bit angry."

"So we decided to give it a little bit of time so she wouldn't think that I had used her or that we were making fun of her or anything like that," Sirius finished. "We're trying to keep her feelings from being hurt."

James, Remus and Peter took this in.

"It kind of makes sense, in a round about way," Peter said. "Lucy is kind of like Alexa Payne but less melodramatic and direct. Lucy would be sneakier about her anger."

Remus grimaced, not finding anything to disagree with.

"You don't have to cover for us, or anything," Violet said. "We don't expect you to lie for us."

"Although, it would help if you could pretend you don't know anything that's going on," Sirius added as an afterthought. Violet hit his arm. "Ow!"

There was a silence.

"I, for one, seem to have forgotten what we just discussed," James said, sitting back, resting his head on the wall and closing his eyes, a content smile on her face.

"Hm. Maybe we were hit with Confundus charms," Peter muttered, crawling back to his seat.

"Marlene's attack seems to have drawn all of my attention," Remus said. He looked at the two of them. "As soon as possible though."

Sirius nodded, and looked at Vi. He offered her a small smile, one she tentatively returned. She let go of his hand and decided that now was not the time for worrying about her relationship. It was the time for worrying about what had happened to Marlene.

* * *

**Thanks for the new reviews, follows and favourites. ****Glad you're enjoying it so far!**

**(I hope there aren't many mistakes in this chapter. It's 2am here, so I'm sorry if there are.)**


	12. Chapter 12

Just before lunchtime, a Ministry wizard came and took the Marauders' and Violet's statements. The Marauders, she knew, had decided to say that they were walking around the castle looking for Marlene when they heard a scream and noticed Violet dart into the forest by herself. Worried for her, they followed, also hiding from three figures who passed, and eventually met up with Violet who was leaning over Marlene's body, desperately searching for a pulse.

Marlene herself was declared stable – physically at least - by lunchtime. At this point, news of her attack had spread all over the school. It was common knowledge that her mother had written the first major article on Death Eater attacks and it was generally believed among the students that whoever attacked her wanted to make a statement against both the article and her family's "blood traitor" status.

Katherine and Rhiannon, her younger sisters, came down with Professor McGonagall and were allowed in to see her first. Minutes later, the Marauders and Violet watched as Daniel and Althea Kane and the three Kane brothers hurried past them into the hospital as well.

Robbie, Lily, Lucy, Amber and Mary joined them in waiting outside of the hospital wing to see her.

Finally, towards the end of lunch, the Kane family exited. Her mother, a tall woman with long dark hair and eyes that were a light hazel colour, like Marlene's, spotted the group against the wall outside the hospital wing and asked who Violet was.

Violet hesitantly approached her and was drawn quickly into a hug so tight she almost couldn't breathe. "Professor Dumbledore told us you found her first," she said, her eyes glassy. "I just wanted to thank you."

"Oh, I didn't really do much," Violet said.

"He said you heard her in the forest and went in to find her," Mrs Kane said, swallowing. "I wish I could do something to commend you, but writing an article on you might not be a very good idea, now that ..."

"It's … it's not your fault," Violet said, patting her hesitantly on the back. She felt a little uncomfortable consoling a woman she barely knew, but the guilt in her voice made Violet's heart ache. "You never could have of known this would happen."

Mrs Kane smiled bitterly, "I knew it would draw attention to us," she said. "It was stupid of me to think that they would let something like this go unpunished. But no one else wanted to take the story when the Ministry gave the go-ahead."

"Taking it was brave," Violet noted.

"Bravery. Look at where that got me," Mrs Kane remarked, a spark of dark humour lighting up her eyes a little. Violet remembered that Marlene's mother had been a Gryffindor at Hogwarts, causing her to become an outcast amongst her mainly-Slytherin family members. "Not that I'm complaining, of course." She sent an small, affectionate smile to where her husband, and five of her six children were waiting with Dumbledore at the other end of the corridor.

Mrs Kane bid Violet goodbye, and went over to her family.

"Can we see her yet?" Lily asked Madame Pomfrey, who'd just arrived at the hospital wing door.

"Yes, but not all at once," Madame Pomfrey responded, looking exhausted. "Just a few at a time. And don't pressure her for anything – she's still very weak."

After some quick organising, it was decided that Violet and the Marauders would go in first, since they were the ones who found Marlene in the first place.

Upon entering, they saw Marlene had been changed out of her school robes and into a hospital wing gown. She was sitting up and resting against the pillows. The blood had been cleaned away and most of her most obvious physical injuries had been fixed up, like the scratches on her cheek; now they were only faint, raw pink lines.

Marlene catching sight of them, and broke into a shaky smile. "So you lot were the ones that found me," she said, giving a soft laugh. "I should have guessed."

Violet sat on the end of her bed. "How are you feeling?"

"I've felt better," Marlene replied shrugging slightly.

"Do you know who it was who attacked you?" James asked quickly.

Remus shot him a sharp look.

"It's ok, Remus," she said, catching sight of the glare. "Honestly. But no, I don't. They were wearing masks and hoods. I was going down to meet Robbie and someone came up behind me." She shuddered. "The next thing I know, I'm waking up in the middle of the forbidden forest and they start …" she swallowed.

"I wonder how they got you out there," Peter mused.

"It wouldn't have been hard," Sirius said. "It was pretty early and it isn't like anyone would have been outside at that time."

"They won't get you again, Marlene," Violet said. "You know that, right?" Marlene stayed quiet, chewing her bottom lip. "Marlene?"

"It's just …" Marlene said, "It was probably students who did this and no one knows who they are. How can _anyone_ promise this won't happen again?"

Violet didn't have an answer.

* * *

The Marauders and Violet went back to class after seeing Marlene, as the other girls and Robbie went in to see her themselves themselves.

It was Transfiguration and Violet couldn't focus. She didn't even notice when her dorm mates and Robbie entered the lesson halfway through.

Sirius was watching her concernedly from his seat next to James. Violet and Marlene usually sat together in Transfiguration and even from behind, Violet looked lonely, anxious and frail.

After class, Violet exited quickly and Sirius ran after, hurriedly giving James some excuse and barely looking back as he left.

"Hey," Sirius called to her. "Vi, stop." He grabbed her hand and pulled her to a halt in the middle of the corridor. "Vi …" he trailed off seeing that her eyes were heavy with unshed tears.

"I just hate it," she said thickly. "I hate all this war stuff that's going on and I hate that there's nothing I can do about it."

Students began turning the corners in groups, bringing with them chatter and loud footsteps and even more people.

"Let's go somewhere quiet," Sirius suggested, "before any more people come down this way to go to dinner." He let of her hand, but made sure she was following him through the students making their way down to the Great Hall or up to their dormitories. "Here." He led her outside into a courtyard, under a willow tree situated in the corner, its thin branches arching gracefully towards the ground barely brushing it.

Without saying a word, Violet wrapped her arms around Sirius' waist and buried her head in his shoulder.

Sirius had never really held a girl in this kind of way before – for comfort and not pleasure - so he felt slightly out of his depth. Nevertheless, he hugged her tightly, before she pulled back and looked at him. "My own mother is part of this … this… _thing_ and Marlene was attacked because because of this_ thing,_" she said, her voice heavy with distress. "And I can't make any sense of it," her voice cracked a little, "because she's my mum and before last summer, I never noticed any indication that she had this belief at all but now I keep remembering things she'd used to do and say and everything seems so clear now and I don't know what to do."

"I ran away from home because my folks were Death Eater supporters, Vi," Sirius told her. "I'm probably not the best person to come to for advice."

She swallowed. "I don't think I need advice," she replied. "I'm pretty sure that I don't know what to do because there's actually nothing I can do."

Sirius acknowledged this dejectedly and also agreed wholeheartedly with it. Some things (his mind drifted to his younger brother Regulus) were just lost causes and no matter how hard you tried, they could not be changed. "What can I do to make this more ... bearable?"

Violet looked at him. "You're already doing it," she almost laughed, sounding more like herself.

"Doing what?"

Violet shrugged. "Call it cheesy, but you're just here." She smiled ruefully. "You're letting me cling to you like the giant squid."

Sirius snorted. "Well I'm hardly going to argue with something like that, am I?"

Violet rolled her eyes, an affectionate smile lighting up her face, chasing most of the anxiety away. "Of course you wouldn't."

Sirius tilted his head down and pressed his lips to hers, trying to convey all that he felt into one simple action; an action that deepened as Violet's hand curled around the nape of his neck just as his own hand went further around her waist and pressed her closer to him.

They mutually broke away for breath just a minute later and Violet stared at him, almost in astonishment – she'd gotten the message and it made her heart race.

* * *

At the entrance to the courtyard, a tall, handsome Ravenclaw student with an impressive, well-respected great uncle stood stock still, unsure of what he was witnessing.

Through the falling leaves of the twisted willow tree bending elegantly in the corner, he could see two Gryffindors – a girl with a shock of long wavy gold hair and a tall, well-built boy with shiny dark hair, worn longer than normal. As he watched, the boy leaned down and initiated a passionate kiss that the girl returned; they were obviously _very_ familiar with one another.

The boy almost tripped over in shock, but remained standing, continuing to watch until they came apart and the girl didn't push away.

He darted quickly inside, his mind racing. Didn't Black just break up with that other girl, Lucy Hurst, earlier that week? He was sure he did; there had been bets going around with a few fifth years on how long the two of them would last. Lucy Hurst was the first girl that Sirius Black had dated for longer than two weeks and it had caused quite a stir. He was sure some of the rumours about Black had been exaggerated somewhat, but after what he just witnessed… he wasn't so sure.

Connor didn't really pay much attention to this sort of thing, but when his ex-girlfriend – sort of – was kissing someone who was supposed to be going through the post-break up stage, even if he was as notorious for not giving a shit about relationships, he would be an idiot if he didn't sit up and take notice.

And Connor Ollivander, a Ravenclaw, was not an idiot.

* * *

Violet was on the edge of sleep, curled up in her four poster bed. She felt like she was sinking into the mattress with, (after talking to Sirius about the rather dramatic events of the day) a sense of closure she hadn't had since before last summer.

The dormitory door slamming open loudly jolted her awake abruptly, followed by loud voices.

"-probably sleeping! Just wait-"

"I just have to talk to her, let me GO!"

The hangings around Violet's four poster bed were wretched open violently and Violet herself staring dazedly up at Lucy, her face murderous and surrounded by a stormy array of shiny dark curls.

"How long?" she demanded angrily.

Violet, still half asleep and trying to make sense of what was happening, blinked in an attempt to clear her vision. "W-what?"

"How long was it going on?" Lucy's voice raised to a shout, and the other girls in the dormitory were frozen in place, mid-action; Mary was sitting on her bed, book all but forgotten, and Lily was in the doorway of the bathroom, holding a hairbrush, mouth open and green eyes wide. Only Amber, standing timidly by the door seemed to have any inkling of what Lucy was talking about. Marlene, who was still in the hospital wing, was the only dorm mate not present.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about," Violet told her slowly.

Lucy laughed, almost wildly, and whirled around furiously, striding over to her bed and throwing her book bag onto it unceremoniously. "She's not sure what I'm talking about! That's funny. What if I asked Sirius what I was talking about? Would he know?"

Violet sat up quickly, pushing her tousled blonde hair out of her face. How could she possibly –

"Just come out with it, Bryce," Lucy snapped. "You and Sirius. How long has it been going on?"

Violet could only stare as alarm coursed through her.

"Vi, you and Sirius … is it true?" Mary asked.

Violet shot a look over to Lily, who hadn't moved from the entrance to the bathroom. "It … well, yes," she stuttered, her cheeks reddening slightly. Lily gasped – whether it was a good gasp or a bad gasp, Violet didn't have the chance to see. "But, Lucy, we didn't want to-"

"How long?" Lucy repeated harshly, her glare icy cold.

Violet swallowed. Where would lying get her, especially when she could just pop into the boys dormitory and ask Sirius himself? "Just under a … a week. Technically since Monday."

The entire dormitory knew of the significance of that Monday - heck, the whole school did. Amber's honey brown eyes widened and Lily bit her lip, exchanging a glance with Mary, who subtly reached over for her wand, just in case.

Lucy didn't move; her nails were digging into her palms and her glare didn't let up. "So he went straight from me to you. Didn't waste much time, did he? And you just went along with it."

"It… it wasn't like that," Violet replied weakly. "Really, Lucy, neither one of us wanted to hurt you."

Lucy snorted. "I hardly think that I was on your mind when you two were hooking up in a broom cupboard somewhere."

"We weren't hooking up in a broom-" Lucy swung her bed hangings shut angrily and Violet stopped when she realised her protesting would do no good.

The four remaining girls stared at each other in silence for a moment, before Mary closed her book with a snap. "I think I'm going to go to bed," she said decisively, pulling her own bed hangings shut.

Amber coughed a little, and then began fussing around, putting her bag away and getting changed.

Lily made her way over to Violet and climbed onto her bed. "He told you how he felt then?" she whispered. Violet nodded. "When?"

Violet bit her lip. "Promise you won't get mad."

"I promise."

Violet lowered her voice and Lily leaned in to listen. "Sunday night, he told me he wanted to meet him in the common room after midnight. So I did and we went to a room behind a mirror on the fourth floor," Lily's eyes widened a little. "And that's when he told me."

"What did you do?"

Violet shrugged, a small, rueful smile on her face. "What I always do. I realised nothing could happen because Lucy and Sirius were still together. So I tried to leave and pretend that I didn't like him. It didn't work. He kept trying to make me talk and eventually I just went ahead and kissed him."

Lily gasped, her eyes excited. "I mean, I did suspect something, of course," she whispered, her face falling a little, "But I wasn't entirely sure. And I feel horrible for Lucy but you and Sirius …" she trailed off. "I've never seen him treat a girl like he has you. Ever."

Violet felt a small smile of pleasure grow on her face at her words. "I just wonder how Lucy found out," she said. "Obviously we couldn't keep it a secret forever, and we weren't planning on it. We just wanted to wait until … until the water settled, you know?"

Lily nodded understanding. "Have you been doing, well, couple-y things around school? Could someone have seen you together this week?"

Violet frowned. "I don't know. Maybe."

The two girls sat on the bed, both lost in thought.

"I wonder what will happen now. I wonder if anyone else knows." Violet murmured. "Actually, Sirius probably doesn't know that Lucy knows. Should I go tell him?"

Lily shook her head. "It's probably too late. After today, they're all probably asleep. You were," she noted.

"True." Violet paused. "Ok. I'll wait until the morning to speak to him."

* * *

**Please accept my massively needed apology! For some reason this chapter was ridiculously hard to write - and yes, I know this chapter is a lot shorter then my previous few - I promise to make the next one a much more considerable length. That said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**And again, thank you for the reviews, favourites and follows!**


	13. Chapter 13

Violet awoke after an uneasy sleep, after vivid dreams of Marlene dead on the floor with Lucy shouting at her that it was her fault.

Glancing around at the room, she could see that she was the first one awake for once. Quietly, she slipped out of bed and changed, before silently exiting. The common room was empty too, and streams of bright light filtered through the windows uninterrupted, creating a peaceful, airy atmosphere. Most people slept in on weekends, so this wasn't unexpected. Violet stood for a moment, wondering whether or not to wait for Sirius to come down or go up to his dormitory and wake him.

Not wanting to risk having Lucy come down as she was explaining to him what had happened last night, she decided to climb the stairs to the dormitory and wake him.

She knocked gently on the door and opened it a crack. The bed hangings were all shut and a thin strip of early morning sunlight peeking through the curtains was the only source of light. Violet crept to Sirius' bed and peeked through the bed hangings. He was lying eagle-spread across the mattress, his hair ruffled and mouth open slightly.

"Sirius," Violet whispered. He didn't respond. "Sirius," she whispered again, shaking his arm gently.

He started, turned his head towards her and blinked his eyes open lazily. "Vi?" his voice was gravelly from sleep. "What's wrong?"

"It's Lucy."

Sirius blinked sleepily at her again, then shifted over to one side of the bed. "Here," he mumbled. "Lie down." Violet complied, slipping off her shoes and curling up beside Sirius, shutting the bed hangings after her. When she was comfortably nestled in between his arm and his side, he spoke again. "What's happened with Lucy?"

"She knows," Violet murmured. "Somehow, she knows."

Sirius, who was feeling more awake now and able to process this information, swallowed nervously. "How could she-"

"I don't know but she does. She came into the dormitory last night, woke me up and proceeded to interrogate me in front of everyone. I think the only reason she didn't make a bigger deal out of it and come up and yell at you too was because of how we were involved with Marlene's attack. Otherwise, she probably would've hexed us both on the spot."

"So you're in here insanely early for the weekend to warn me that she's out for my blood."

"That's sounds about right."

Sirius let this information sink in, sighing heavily. He pressed his lips to Violet's forehead and breathed in the soft smell of her hair – jasmine and vanilla. "She would've found out eventually," Sirius said to her quietly. "And she probably still would have been angry."

Violet rested her head in the crook of his neck and sighed. "That's true. But I'd like to think her anger wouldn't be this intense."

"So did someone see us?" Sirius asked.

Violet, who was being lulled back to sleep by the steady rise and fall of Sirius' breath, murmured, "She didn't say, but it's likely."

"I hope it isn't anyone who …"

Violet didn't hear the rest. She had already fallen back to sleep.

* * *

"OI! When did you come in here?"

Violet awoke with a start and rubbed her eyes. The first thing she saw James bending over directly above her, his eyes wide and confused beneath his glasses. Sirius groaned, not even bothering to open his eyes, and pulled up the blanket to hide his face.

"This morning," Violet answered.

"Really?" James asked, a wicked grin breaking out on his face.

Violet smirked. "Don't go thinking in that direction, James-y, it wasn't like that."

"James-y?" James said. "My mother used to call me that when I was two."

"Your mother still calls you that," Sirius contributed, his voice muffled from the blankets.

James smacked grabbed a pillow from Remus' bed and smacked it over his head, hitting Violet as well.

"Ouch!"

"Fuck!"

"GET UP," James hollered at them, moving away to his own bed.

"Lucy came by earlier," Peter said nonchalantly, as the two of them sat up in the bed.

"She did?" Sirius asked, startled. Violet's heart skipped a beat.

"Yeah, she was looking for you, Vi," Remus said, coming out of the bathroom. "But Pete and I were the only ones up and we didn't know you were in bed with Sirius so we told her you weren't here."

"And then she asked to see Sirius, but we figured that probably wouldn't be a good idea," Peter added.

"She had quite a murderous look in her eye," Remus said mildly. "That doesn't have something to do with you two, does it?" The two of them, who had moved into sitting positions, avoided eye contact. Their silence spoke volumes.

"What's happened?" asked Hugo, walking out of the bathroom, still damp with a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Put some clothes on, Hugo, we've got a lady in our presence!" Sirius exclaimed indignantly.

"Wha – oh Vi! Sorry, I didn't see you there," Hugo said, his cheeks flushing. He quickly grabbed some clothes and hurried back into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

Violet rolled her eyes at Sirius, the corner of her lips twitching upwards. "Was that really necessary?"

Sirius winked at her and Violet sighed in response.

"Are you going to fill us in now or not?" Remus asked abruptly.

* * *

As it was Saturday and there were no classes, breakfast was a lot more relaxed; many of the students and some teachers were not even present yet, so when Violet went down to breakfast with the Marauders, there were fewer people than usual. Perhaps that was why she honed in on the groups of people break out into whispers at their entry.

"Am I paranoid, or are there people looking at us and whispering," she asked Sirius.

"I'm not entirely sure what you mean," Sirius said. "So probably paranoid."

Violet glanced at the Ravenclaw table. A group of seventh years were openly glaring at them – or was it just her? – as they sat down. Her eyes caught Connor's, narrow and accusing, but he also looked strangely satisfied at her discomfort, and she quickly put two and two together.

She faced the table quickly again and stared at her plate for a moment before saying to Sirius beside her, "It was Connor."

"What?"

"He knows, Sirius. It must have been him who saw us first," Violet insisted. She sat staring into space for a moment, biting her lip before standing.

"Hey, where are you going?" Sirius asked, alarmed. Remus, Peter and James stopped talking and watched her.

"To talk to him," Violet replied.

"Why?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"To stop this right now from getting out of hand!" Violet said determinedly. She squeezed his shoulder once, before striding over to the Ravenclaw table to where Connor and his friends were sitting. "Connor, could I talk to you?"

Connor glanced up at her, a slight smirk in his blue grey eyes. "Sure," he said casually, unmoving. "Talk."

"Could we go outside the hall?" Violet asked tentatively. His friends tittered.

Connor sniffed once, but dropped his fork, swung his legs over the bench and headed to the door, not looking back at her. Violet followed, struggling a little to keep up with his long strides. She glanced back at the four marauders once before heading out the doors, through the entrance hall and out into the courtyard.

Connor stopped in the centre of the courtyard and turned to face her. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Um," Violet realised she didn't quite know how to begin. She was suddenly struck by doubt – what if she had gotten it all wrong and misinterpreted his expression? "Well … I just – I wanted to - " she stammered. "You seemed upset," she finally managed to get out.

Connor raised his eyebrows, amused. It was almost mocking. "Why would I be upset?"

Again, Violet couldn't find it in herself to ask him directly. "I – I just wondered if I had anything to do with it?"

Connor was smiling derisively now. "Have you done anything that would upset me? Apart from breaking it off with me with no warning." He paused.

Violet swallowed. "You know I am sorry for that. But I couldn't pretend that I liked you in that way when I didn't."

Connor snorted. "Yes, well. We all know now why that was."

"Erm …"

Connor rolled his eyes, clearly exasperated. "You can stop pretending, Bryce. I know you and Black had a thing while we were together. You were probably even shagging in broom closets, like he does with all the girls. That's why you never gave me an answer when I asked you to be my girlfriend all those times."

"We were not shagging in broom closets," Violet said hotly. "I never did anything like that with Sirius while we were - sort of – together! I never gave you an answer because I really did realise that I just liked you as a friend!"

"So you didn't even have a thing_ for_ Black while you were with me?" Connor accused dubiously.

"I … well, I did but I didn't realise it at first. And I never acted on it!" Violet insisted. "The fact you think I did shows what you think of me."

"Didn't you say, that night when we broke it off, having me helped you to work out your feelings? They were feelings for Black, weren't they."

Violet swallowed. She did say that. In a fit of panic, she had choked and said almost those exact words, without thinking them through.

"And there's my answer," Connor continued bitterly. "I was right, you know. You are just a heartless bitch. And you don't care about anyone but yourself."

"Ok, now that's just not true," a voice said. Violet and Connor looked around and saw Sirius striding over towards them. He spoke casually but his hand was curled tightly around his wand and his grey eyes were dangerously hard. Standing back a little were James, Remus and Peter, all holding their own wands.

"Sirius, guys," Violet said, her eyes on the drawn wands. "Just forget it. It's not a-"

"Is that what you said to Vi when she told you she only wanted to be your friend?" Sirius asked, coming up to stand beside her and cocking his head to the side. "She seemed pretty upset that night."

Connor stared at him for a moment before he laughed loudly. It took all of them by surprise. "Like you can talk, Black! You jumped from Lucy Hurst to Violet in … what? You and Violet seemed_ very_ familiar with each other yesterday in the Transfiguration courtyard. It wouldn't surprise me if you started something with her while you were still dating Hurst."

Sirius snorted derisively, his eyes still hard. "You don't know anything."

Connor smirked and he lowered his voice. "You'd be surprised what I know." His eyes darted to Remus and Sirius didn't miss it. "But this is about you and Bryce, not Lupin and – what does Potter call it again? His furry little problem."

Despite her current anxiety at the situation unfolding, Violet frowned in confusion. Lupin? As is Remus Lupin? Furry little … what?

Sirius' jaw clenched and unclenched. "Why don't you do us all a favour, and fuck off back to your little group of Ravenclaw friends and mind your own business."

Connor shrugged. "That's fine by me. I've already told Lucy what I needed to. She can do what she likes with the information."

"So it was you," Violet murmured.

Connor's grin widened, his eyes still bitter. "I'm not denying it. I've already heard a couple of people talking about you two this morning. Nasty stuff."

"You little shit," Sirius snarled, raising his wand.

"Sirius!" Violet cried, grabbing his arm and trying to force it back down. "Don't!"

Connor however, ignored him and began walking back to the hall. He shot a smile at Violet. "I'll see you around I suppose."

Sirius almost growled under his breath, but dropped his wand arm, to Violet's immense relief. "I'm going to hex him when he least expects it," he muttered angrily, as Connor passed the other three marauders and left their view.

"He's not worth it," Violet replied. "Besides, the damage is already done and he knows it, the bloody git," she said, irritated. "Let's just go back inside and finish eating, okay?"

For a moment it seemed as though Sirius wouldn't comply. But he caught sight of Violet's pleading expression, exhaled heavily and followed her back to the others and then into the Great Hall.

* * *

Violet had spent the day firstly visiting Marlene in the hospital wing (who had insisted she was feeling much better) and later with the Marauders, outside but far away from the other students. She was choosing, for now, to avoid everyone else.

In the Great Hall, people muttered obscenities and comments under their breath, but mostly left her – and Sirius – alone. This was probably due to the fact that James was very obviously twirling his wand around with an air of mock casualty and Sirius was glaring at anyone who looked at them for too long.

But she couldn't avoid everyone forever and it was with a deep seated sense of reluctance that she left the Marauders and made her way up to the girls' dormitories just before midnight.

Amber was already asleep – or at least, her bed hangings were tightly shut. Lily and Mary sat together on Mary's bed, talking in hushed tones. But Violet was relieved to see that both offered smiles when she entered – even if Mary's was a little more hesitant than usual.

"Oh, there you are!" Lucy said, her voice falsely bright, walking out of the bathroom, wrapped in a short white bathrobe with her curly hair a still little damp. "I was wondering how long it would take you to come up. I even wondered if you would come up at all."

Violet shrugged, choosing to carefully meet her eye. "Well, this is also my room."

"Hm," Lucy nodded, her lips pursed in mock consideration. "Yes it is. But as we're fighting and I've been here – at this school, in this dormitory, with these people - longer, I just assumed you wouldn't show up."

"Where else would I go, Lucy?" Violet asked incredulously, her temper getting the better off her.

Lucy snickered. "Sirius' bed probably. You've probably been there enough times." She moved to her own trunk, pulling out fresh clothes. Violet watched her in disbelief. Any remaining guilt she had was gone.

"You know what?" Violet said, her suppressed anger escaping into her voice a little. "Maybe I will." With that, she turned and stormed to the door.

"Where are you going?" Lucy demanded just she swung the door open.

Violet turned to look at her, a surprised look on her face. "Where do you think?"

The door slammed behind her.

* * *

Violet remembered to knock on the door this time, and she did so softly, in case they were already asleep.

Remus opened it marginally so only his head could fit through. "Vi?" he asked incredulously. "What're you doing here?"

"Is Sirius here?" Violet asked quietly. Remus nodded. "Can I come in?"

"Erm," he glanced behind him. "Hugo, go put some clothes on. Violet's here." Violet could hear him sigh loudly and move around. Her lips twitched. "Alright, he's in the bathroom. Come in. Peter and James have already crashed so try to be quiet, yeah?" He opened the door a little wider and Violet slipped through.

"Where's Sirius?" she asked Remus.

"Having a shower," Remus said, flopping onto his bed. "He shouldn't be long. You won't mind if I …" he indicted to his bed hangings.

"Go ahead," Violet answered, smiling. He grinned gratefully at her and swung them shut. Violet, now left alone, took a seat on the end of Sirius' bed, slipped off her shoes and pulled her feet up. It only took a minute for Sirius' to come out of the bathroom … in nothing but loose cotton tracksuit bottoms.

Not that Violet was complaining.

"Vi?" Sirius stopped, surprised. "What's wrong?"

"Can I sleep here tonight?" Violet asked quietly. "My dormitory … doesn't feel that welcome at the moment."

Sirius frowned. "Sure. Is it just Lucy-"

"Shush," she whispered, pulling him onto the bed in front of her. "People are trying to sleep."

Hugo, now clothed, caught sight of them as he exited the bathroom and acknowledged Violet with a nod just before he collapsed onto his bed, exhaling in exhaustion. "Hey," he called softly, sitting up abruptly and staring at them. "No funny business, yeah? Or at least wait until we're all asleep."

"Shut up, Hugo," Sirius told him matter-of-factly, swinging the curtains on his bed shut. He flopped onto his pillow, and glanced at her. "Are you going to just sit there?"

Violet stuck her tongue out at him good-humouredly and pulled off her jacket and jeans, leaving her in her t-shirt and underwear. "I'm not sleeping in jeans," she told him, resting her head in the crook of his neck and draping an arm over him.

Sirius eyed her with a smirk. "You won't hear me complaining."

* * *

Something soft and feather-light trailed down her back, following her spine. Violet sighed contently as it started again. She opened her eyes to red velvet curtains and turned her head to face Sirius, who drew his hand away tracing her spine.

"Good morning," she breathed, stretching with a sigh.

"'Morning," he whispered back. He ran a hand through her hair, a smirk playing on his face. "Your hair is really messy."

"Mm, it's a nightmare in the morning," Violet agreed.

"I like it. It's wild."

"Wild, huh?"

"Yes. I bet you have epic sex hair."

Violet choked back a laugh and propped herself up on her elbows. "You just ruined what would have been a really sweet moment."

Sirius broke out into an apologetic grin and brushed hair from out of her face. "If it helps, I apparently have epic sex hair too."

Violet raised her eyebrows. "I think I'll decide that one for myself."

"Will you?" Sirius eyes darkened suddenly and his grin widened and he moved so he leaned over her, kissing her neck from behind and sliding his hands around her waist and down.

"We're in a dormitory, Sirius," Violet whispered as he latched onto a spot just below her ear that made her breathing more than a little uneven.

"So what?" he whispered, his breath caressing her skin. "They won't care."

"But I will," Violet said.

Sirius paused and Violet thought for a moment that he wouldn't back off. But he did. He rolled back over and faced the ceiling. A silence had appeared between them, broken only by a soft snore from one of the other boys – Violet wasn't sure who it was.

"Sorry," Sirius said to her quietly after a moment.

"Don't be," Violet said, lying on her side and facing him. "It isn't that I don't want to – I do. But I just don't want to have sex after going out for only a week. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, of course. I just wasn't thinking," Sirius answered, flashing a worried, half-smile at her. Violet exhaled heavily, in relief she realised (because what would happen if he got angry?), and shifted closer to him, closing her eyes in contentment. She was about ready to fall back to sleep when Sirius spoke again. "It's just I'm used to short lived relationships with girls that are sort of based around …" he trailed off. "I forgot that I didn't want it to be like that with you – it's not like that with you." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "I'm not with you just for the physical stuff."

"Oh," Violet said. Insecurity struck her suddenly, despite his reassuring words. "How many girls have you slept with? Not that it really matters," she added quickly.

Sirius rolled over, his face now inches from hers. "Do you really want to know?"

Violet nodded.

Sirius sighed. "Five. I've only ever had three official girlfriends – and you know none of them lasted very long. But the other two were at a parties over the summer and there was fire whiskey and beer and they were kind of drunken one night things."

Internally, Violet felt relief. She knew _all_ the rumours about Sirius couldn't be true but part of her was still afraid that she'd just be another insanely high number on a list of girls that Sirius had shagged. But then a thought struck her. "Is Lucy included in that count?"

Sirius froze.

"I'm not going to be mad, Sirius," Violet said gently. "I just want to know."

Sirius guiltily looked away. "Yes," he said. "Over the Christmas break once and then a couple of times early in the term when I was trying to …" Even though Violet thought she could handle it, she still felt her stomach coil in displeasure.

"It's fine," she told him. "You don't have to explain yourself. You were together and it makes sense that you would have slept with her."

"Yeah," Sirius muttered, looking displeased. "Right." He glanced up at her. "It's your turn now!"

"What?" Violet whispered incredulously. "Why?"

"You just found out all that about me! It's your turn to talk. How many people have you had sex with?" Sirius asked.

Violet rolled her eyes. "Lower your voice, will you? I don't want to wake the others up." They both paused and listened, but the steady sounds of light snores and breathing hadn't changed. Sirius stared at her expectantly. "Ok, fine. Three people. There."

"Really?" Sirius asked. "Hm." Violet couldn't help but chuckle a little at his thoughtful expression. "Who were they?"

"No one you know. One was a boyfriend at Beauxbatons who I began going out with early in the middle of fourth year. He was my first. But we broke up just after Christmas – we'd been dating for just under a year. That was a little hard," she said. "But we grew apart, became interested in different things and decided we were better off as friends."

"And the other two?" Sirius asked.

At this, Violet chose not to meet Sirius' eye. "During the summer," she said eventually. "after mum left, I sort of went to a lot muggle parties after we moved. Where we live now - it's popular with tourists and a lot of families own these big old houses and they stay in them every summer so they all know each other. And I got invited along to a lot of the teenager's parties and meet ups and … how did you put it before?" she asked. "Drunken one night things?"

Sirius nodded.

"Well, yes. That's what they were. One of the boys became sort of a regular thing – a no attachment kind of thing, you know? It wasn't like either of us would see each other when the summer was over anyway so …" she trailed off.

Sirius nodded. He tried to keep his voice nonchalant when he next spoke, "So you and Connor never …"

"No," Violet said, her lips twitching at Sirius' attempt at a nonchalant tone. "Connor and I never had sex."

Sirius heaved a sigh of relief and smiled, satisfied. "I mean, it wouldn't have mattered if you had, of course. But since you haven't, I'm going to be happy about it."

Violet regarded him with humour and said, "Well, since we've had that talk, can I go back to sleep? I hate being awake this early."

* * *

Violet tried attempted to ignore the snippets of conversation that drifted around her as she walked alone to her final class on Monday.

"Lucy said they'd been going at it for ages now .."

"… bet he's going to toss her like the other girls."

"… waste of a fit girl…"

Few people seemed to remember the rumour that she and Sirius had "dated" earlier that year, for a day. The only ones who seemed to remember were Alexa Payne and her group of fifth year friends – and amongst numbers of the student body in Hogwarts, they were easily ignored.

"Vi," Lily called, darting towards her. She glared at a couple of Slytherins who were nudging each other and pointing to Violet, making suggestive gestures. "Come on," Lily said, linking arms with her and pointedly everyone else. "We'll be late. Chatzi was saying to me after breakfast that we're going to be looking at a really powerful spell today."

Violet gratefully fell into step beside Lily as they walked to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom and took a seat beside her. As Marlene was still in the hospital wing, she would have otherwise sat alone. She flashed a reassuring smile at Sirius sitting at the back, who was no doubt aware of the comments being made about the two of them, before turning her attention back to Lily.

Professor Chatzi entered a few minutes later.

"Good afternoon, everyone. I hope you've all had a pleasant day." Professor Chatzi was a slim man of Greek descent who was about fifty years old. He was very tan and had creases lining his face – although it was obvious he'd once been very good looking. "We're only going to spend a few minutes seated as the rest of this lesson will be a practical."

He instructed them to turn to page two hundred and seventy in the textbook, one of the last pages.

"The Patronus Charm," Lily breathed, reading the title.

Violet raised an eyebrow, scanning the page. In France, they didn't usually look at Patronus' until seventh year. She supposed the British curriculum must be different. She looked up again to listen to Professor Chatzi, who was continuing.

"… known mostly for their ability to act as a shield against dementors and other such creatures. What few people know, however, is that they are a spirit guardian – a literal representation of your soul in the form of an animal. As such, the spell is very difficult to master, even without a dementor nearby. I am hoping that most of you will make progress with it today – perhaps some of you will even manage a corporeal patronus!"

The class, eager to begin, skimmed through the couple of pages on the charm and were soon on their feet. Professor Chatzi pulled out his wand and swept the desks to the side, creating a large space in the centre of the room.

"I will demonstrate," he said to them. "Expecto Patronum." A flash of white light burst from his wand and formed quickly into a hare that darted quickly around the length of the room before dissolving. At this point the class was murmuring in excitement; Lily was nearly jumping up and down. "The trick is in the memory you chose; the happier the memory, the stronger the patronus. Get into groups and you can begin."

Lily gestured for Mary and Robbie to come join them and was going to ask Lucy and Amber as well, but thought better of it. They had already found themselves a group with some other boys from Hufflepuff anyway.

"Who wants to go first?" Robbie asked.

Violet looked at Mary, who looked at Lily, who looked back at Mary, who sighed. "I guess I will then," she said, stepping out. "Happy memory," Mary said to herself. She pursued her lips thinking. "Ok," she said, holding out her wand. "Expecto Patronum!"

A fizz of white light burst forth but then faded away and Mary looked on in disappointment.

"A good start," Chatzi told her, walking over to them. "Don't be deterred. It always takes a few tries. Here's a tip," he raised his voice to the other groups, who had also begun and were responsible for the flashes of silvery light appearing all around the room. "Try to sustain the memory for as long as you can. If you can do that, your patronus may begin to take a shape."

Robbie and Violet both had a go – both of them only producing a few strands of silver. But it was better than nothing. Violet was pretty certain she knew what her problem was; the fact she hadn't been feeling particularly joyful recently.

"My turn," Lily said, stepping up. She took a breath and raised her wand. "Expecto Patronum!" Silver white light burst forth and began to take shape, galloping around the room, but it fizzled out before anyone could get a good look at what it actually was.

"Well done Miss Evans!" Professor Chatzi exclaimed excitedly. "And on your first go as well! That's almost unheard of! Ten points to Gryffindor." Lily beamed.

"Did any of you see what it was?" Lily asked them animatedly and they all shook their heads.

"I know it had four legs!" Mary responded, almost as excited as Lily herself.

"It was galloping," Robbie said. "Maybe it was a horse."

"Or a unicorn," Violet piped up. "What? It could be."

The lesson continued with all of them trying over and over again to produce a corporal patronus. Collectively, they were getting better though – more and more of the classes' bursts of light were lasting longer and beginning to take shape. Violet frustratingly remained only able to produce small slivers of silver-white at a time.

And then James Potter called "Expecto Patronum" and a fully formed silver stag surged forth.

The entire class stopped, watching in awe as it loped majestically around the room before slowly fading away into nothing.

The class began applauding and Violet was afraid Chatzi would wet himself, he looked that excited, as he awarded twenty points to Gryffindor.

Sirius clapped him on the back and Remus and Peter were looking bemused as James, also grinning, lapped up the attention from their classmates._ Prongs,_ Violet thought suddenly, staring at where the stag had dissolved._ Prongs are like … antlers. How could they have known?_

Sirius looked over at Violet and saw her staring into space, not joining in with the applause.

"You alright?" he asked her, after walking over to her. "Prongs might get stroppy if he doesn't see you worshipping the ground he walks on after that display."

"Prongs," she said to him. "Interesting nickname. All of you have such interesting nicknames. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. I never really wondered about them before."

Sirius laughed, a little too hard. "They're just nicknames. It's not a big deal."

"How did you come up wi-"

There were gasps around the room as a silver doe came into being and circled the room gracefully, as James' stag had done – it was Lily's. She stood stock still, her mouth open in surprise.

The class applauded for her too, after it disappeared, but amongst it was riddled with whispering. James Potter's patronus was a stag and Lily Evan's patronus was a doe. What was that Professor Chatzi said about representation of souls? James and Lily stood stock still for a moment, staring at the place it had disappeared - but very clearly for different reasons. But then Lily broke her silence and jumped around to Mary, grinning. "I did it!" she said excitedly. James still hadn't moved, frowning slightly.

Violet glanced over at Severus Snape, who was standing sourly in a corner with a group of some other Slytherins. His dark eyes were burning as he watch Lily chatter excitedly with Mary and Robbie but turned away to his own group so quickly, Violet wondered if she even saw what she did.

* * *

"We're soul mates," James grinned, as he walked with Sirius, Remus, Peter and Violet up to the common room from dinner. He had so far refrained himself from saying anything in Lily's presence (a true feat), but when she was gone, it was all he could talk about. "We're actually soul mates."

"For the sixth time, James," Violet said boredly, "we get it."

James turned, grinning at her. "Do you though? Do you get it?"

Violet sighed and gave the Fat Lady the password as the other three hid their snickering behind her back.

"Because you know what this is?" he asked them as they walked through and took seats in front of the fire place. "This is proof that when I say I love Lily, I mean it."

"She might not see it that way," Violet said. "You know that, right? She could think it's just a coincidence."

"No," James said. "Bumping into each other after a long time is a coincidence. This," he continued dramatically, "is fate."

"I don't believe in fate," Violet told him. "How horrible would it be to have your whole future mapped out for you? With no say in what happens?"

"I have to agree with Vi here, mate," Sirius said, slinging an arm around her shoulders. "If fate existed, I would probably be in Slytherin and believe in blood superiority."

"Ah, but what if it was your destiny to break away?" James asked. "To start anew?" His eyes were alight and his hair was looking wilder than normal.

The four of them stared at James for a moment before Violet turned to Sirius and said, "He'd do well in divination, don't you think?"

"Thenaider would love him," Sirius said dryly.

"Oh shut it," James told him happily. "But think about – Lily has to give me chance now! I wonder if she's realised…"

"James, do not ask her out by informing her that you are her soul mate," Violet said sharply. "Lily is a bit of a romantic and she doesn't like it when words like 'love' and 'soul mate' are thrown around like they're meaningless."

"Of course they aren't! I'm not going to - "

"James, coming from you, who asks her out every other day, it will seem…" Violet trailed off in annoyance as James began a conversation with Remus about the merits of taking a girl to Madam Pudifoots on a first date.

* * *

At around midnight, the five of them decided to go to bed. James, Remus and Peter went up ahead of Sirius and Violet.

"Are you going to be ok tonight?" Sirius asked, catching Vi's arm. She bit her lip and nodded. "You know you can just come and sleep with me like you did over the weekend?"

Violet sighed and nodded. "I know. But I can't avoid sleeping in the room forever so I figure I should at least try to go up and try to sleep there first."

Sirius pursued his lips. "Well, just don't be afraid to come back."

"I won't be." She kissed him lightly and began the dreaded descent up to her own dormitory. Apprehension built up in the pit of her stomach and she heard a loud laugh come from the room. She cracked open the door and slid in. Lucy was the one who had been laughing and she abruptly stopped and Violet's entry.

Amber turned and offered her a small smile before she winced and turned away guiltily. _Lucy must have pinched her or something_, Violet thought.

"Back already?" Lucy asked.

Violet refrained from sighing and walked to her trunk, pulling off her robes as she went. "Yes."

"That's it? Yes?" When Violet didn't reply she changed her tactic. "How was Sirius last night? Get much sleep?"

"Give it a rest, Lucy," Mary sighed, moving into the bathroom.

"Give it a rest?" Lucy exclaimed. "You're ok with her just jumping into bed with my boyfrie– ex boyfriend … after a week?"

Mary glared at her. "I don't have an opinion on the matter. Not everything is black and white."

Lucy rounded on Lily who was calmly brushing her long red hair. "And you agree with her?"

Lily shrugged and answered simply, "Yes."

She rounded on Amber, "And you?"

Amber shrugged, looking down at the bedspread.

Lucy huffed and watched Violet pull on an old shirt for pyjamas. "Fine then," Lucy said, mostly to herself. "Fine. I'll just go."

"Lucy, wait," Amber said, as Lucy stood to leave. "Where are you going?"

"I don't want to sleep anywhere I'm not wanted."

Amber sighed. "Luce, you're bein-"

"No, Amber, don't say anything!"

"No, Amber's right," Violet said, shrugging on a thick woollen cardigan. "Where will you sleep if you can't sleep in here?"

"The couch in the dormitory," Lucy snapped at her. "Anywhere is better than being near you."

Violet struggled not to roll her eyes. "You stay in here, where there's actually a bed. I'll just go … sleep with Sirius," she said, almost mocking her.

Lily looked at her, her position as prefect taking precedence a little. "Vi, you can't. I know I didn't say anything over the weekend but it's against the rules -"

"Don't worry about it, Lily. It's fine." Violet faced Lucy again. "I completely understand that you don't want to be around me right now. That's fine too. I'll see you all in the morning."

As Violet left to go to the boys' dormitory, Lucy's mind was whirring. Lily had just said it was against the rules. And of course it was; it made complete sense, obviously. Suddenly, she was content in accepting Violet's offer and letting her go. She quietened and prepared for later that night.

* * *

**This chapter is a lot longer then my last and I hope you all enjoyed it! And the usual thank you's apply! **


	14. Chapter 14

"Mr Black! Miss Bryce! Wake up! WAKE UP!"

Professor McGonagall's angry exclamations broke through Violet's sleep and she awoke with a start.

"Just what do the two of you think you're doing?" she demanded. Violet sat up quickly and experienced a wave of vertigo as Sirius screwed up his face and rubbed his eyes. Almost simultaneously, the two of them realised the compromising position they'd been caught in.

"Wass goin' on?" came James' sleepy voice.

"Professor McGonagall?" Remus sounded horrified. Violet would have laughed if she wasn't about to be skinned alive.

"Yes Mr Lupin. As a Gryffindor prefect, I'm ashamed you didn't think to stop this kind of behaviour." Her words were met with silence.

"But Professor," Sirius began lamely. "We weren't doing anything. We were just sleeping."

"Regardless Mr Black, you have both broken several school rules," McGonagall replied sternly. "And that demands consequences. Get up, both of you. I'm taking you to the Headmasters office."

"Merde," Violet, still not entirely functional, cursed as she swung her legs over the side of the bed.

She, Sirius and Professor McGonagall traipsed through the castle and Sirius and Violet communicated through looks, neither daring to say anything to one another out loud.

"STUDENTS OUT OF BED – oh, Professor McGonagall," Filch actually skidded a few feet, Mrs Norris slinking after him. "There are students out of bed."

Professor McGonagall glared at the man. "Yes there are. And they are coming with me to Professor Dumbledore's office."

"Right you are," Filch said, trying to maintain what little dignity he still had. He turned and strode purposefully back down the corridor.

Sirius snickered at his back and McGonagall rolled her eyes before continuing.

They stopped at a gargoyle. "Pepper Imps," she said and the gargoyle allowed them to pass. She knocked twice on a wooden door and she, Sirius and Violet heard Dumbledore call out, "Enter."

When they did, they saw he was seated at his desk in a deep purple dressing robe, half-moon spectacles on the tip of his nose. Despite the late hour, his eyes were as piercingly blue as ever.

"Sit," Professor McGonagall commanded them, and they did, quickly, in the high backed chairs in front of the desk. "Explain to Professor Dumbledore why he and I have had our nights rest interrupted."

Sirius glanced at Violet, who shrugged slightly. "Well," Sirius said hesitantly, thinking about how to word this. This was not a time for joking. "We were sleeping in the same bed."

His words were met with silence.

"Indeed," Dumbledore said, after a moment's pause. "May I ask why?"

"Erm, well, because Lucy was going to sleep on a couch in the common room," Violet told him.

"And why would she do that?"

"Because we're not really on good terms currently, sir, and she didn't want to be in a room with me. And it wasn't really fair since I had another bed I could go to that …" she trailed off, realising how bad it sounded. And she had almost revealed that was where she had stayed previously as well.

Professor Dumbledore looked directly at her. "And why are the two of you fighting?"

"Well, I'm, erm, with Sirius, sir. And just before we were together, she was … with Sirius and … it's gotten a little messy," Violet responded, mentally berating herself for how she sounded. Beside her, Sirius suppressed a laugh. They both could have sworn Dumbledore's eyes were sparkling in amusement. However, his next words were quite serious.

"It is not a good time for inner-house rivalry, when there are already many enemies on the outside. You two, of all people, should be aware of this … with your families connections, Sirius, and the recent happenstance with you family, Violet," Dumbledore told them.

"Yes sir."

"Yes sir."

"As such," Dumbledore continued, "I'm going to let this little incident slide-" there was a small sniff from Professor McGonagall "- provided that you make amends with Miss Hurst."

"That might be difficult considering how much she hates me right now," Violet said.

"Miss Hurst was the one who informed me of their … indiscretion," McGonagall said. "I realise now that it was most likely an act of bitterness rather than one of moral obligation."

Dumbledore pressed the tips of his fingers together and sat back. "Regardless, I wish the situation to be diffused. If you are unsuccessful, perhaps I shall talk to Miss Hurst myself." He glanced at Sirius. "I've done a similar thing before with James."

Sirius remembered and he looked down, his stomach clenching uncomfortably as he remembered the first serious fight he and James had ever had.

"As for the dormitory situation, while I do believe the pair of you were only sleeping," his lips twitched. "It is against the school rules and if we hear of something like this again, unfortunately the consequences will have to be more severe. Is that reasonable?"

Sirius and Violet nodded. Dumbledore dismissed them and Professor McGonagall escorted them back to the Gryffindor common room. As both Sirius and Violet headed back to the boys dormitory, she called, "Miss Bryce, please go up to your own dormitory this time."

Violet froze mid-step. "Oh. Right." She flashed a sheepish smile at McGonagall and darted over to the girls' staircase, not risking another look at Sirius.

* * *

Violet woke to the achingly familiar sounds of her dormitory getting ready for the day. She popped her head through the bed hangings and peered out sleepily.

"Vi?"

"Oh. Hello Lily."

"When did you get back in here?" she asked incredulously.

"Someone told McGonagall that Sirius and I were sleeping in the same bed," Violet shrugged casually, not looking at Lucy.

"Did you get into trouble?" Amber asked curiously.

"Somewhat," Violet answered vaguely. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. I prefer it in here to being in their dormitory. It's a lot messier then ours." She caught Lucy's gaze. "I know you're angry at me. But I'd really like it if you could just put things aside while we're in the dormitory."

"Why am I the only one who has to put things aside?" Lucy snapped.

"Because I haven't-" Violet stopped short. If she said what she wanted too, she would further alienate Lucy and that was the opposite of what she wanted to do. "Both of us will have to," she said shortly.

Lucy sniffed, fiddled with her bag and left quickly, Amber hurrying after her.

"Well that went well," Violet muttered grumpily.

"It did though," Lily said. "You did a good thing."

"It isn't like I was the one making trouble though!" Violet exclaimed. "I'm perfectly content with ignoring each other – she's the one making stupid comments and spreading rumours!"

Lily shrugged. "It has to stop eventually."

Violet sighed heavily. "I hope so."

They sat for a moment before Lily piped up, "Hey, Marlene gets out of the hospital wing today!"

* * *

"YOU WOKE UP TO MCGONAGALL STANDING OVER YOU?" Marlene exclaimed gleefully. "THAT IS HILARIOUS!"

Violet pouted sourly.

"I missed all of that!" Marlene exclaimed to Lily and Violet as they escorted her from breakfast to their next class. "Bloody hell, I'm never getting attacked again!"

"I would hope not," Violet said dryly. "You know what else you missed? James eating seven chicken drumsticks in a row the other night at dinner."

"I don't want to talk about James' enviously fast metabolism. I want to talk about how you're dating Sirius Black!" Marlene said. "Do you know he tried to kiss me in fourth year?"

"Really?" Violet said interestedly.

"Yes."

"He has quite good taste then, doesn't he?"

Marlene and Violet laughed as Lily rolled her eyes. "He's still a conceited prick."

"Lily, I thought you were happy I was with him!" Violet was genuinely surprised.

"Oh, I am happy that you're happy. And besides, he's not a conceited prick to _you_. Just to everyone else," Lily said.

"Don't mind her," Marlene said, to a now quiet Violet. "She just doesn't like him because he's best friends with Potter."

"No!" Lily blushed a little. "I … James and I have been getting on pretty well this year. He only asks me out a couple of times a week now and I haven't heard of him hexing anyone in the corridors for ages." Violet had heard about _one_ time but she wasn't going to say anything, considering it was just one off. "But he's still an arrogant toerag, always acting like he owns the place. Just like Sirius is still a conceited prick. It's just their personalities and the way they behave."

Violet and Marlene stared at her. "I don't even know how to respond to that," Marlene said to Lily. Violet made a small noise of agreement. Neither of them thought of Sirius and James quite as harshly as Lily did. "But anyway, how's Lucy taken it? Because I've noticed a few glares from her being shot our way at breakfast and seeing as I just left the hospital wing and all, it definitely cannot be because I'm looking particularly beautiful today."

* * *

"Lily," James said sitting beside her at dinner, flashing a quick smile at Violet, who was sitting across from her. "Have I told you just how wonderful you look today?"

Lily barely looked up, grimacing at him. She already knew what was coming – as usual – and she was going to do what she always did these days; politely say no and move on.

"So did you find the Patronus charm interesting yesterday?" James asked nonchalantly, running a hand through his already messy hair.

At this, Violet looked up, alarmed. She shot a warning look at James, who promptly ignored her.

"I did, actually," Lily said, opening up to him a little. Perhaps this would be one of those times where he actually wanted to properly talk to her. She didn't mind that. It wasn't so bad.

"You know what I found interesting?" James asked and Lily shook her head. "Chatzi telling us beforehand about how a Patronus is a representation of your soul." Lily was quiet, unsure of how to respond to this. "And my patronus is a stag and yours is a doe. Isn't that interesting?"

Lily pressed her lips together. "I'm pretty sure it was just a coincidence.

"No," James said. _Don't say it,_ Violet thought desperately. "It means we're soul mates." _He said it._

Lily's mouth popped open in surprise, her eyes wide with disbelief. "Are you kidding?"

"Nope. You should probably give me a chance and go out with me," James answered solemnly.

Lily scoffed and dropped her fork, shaking her head in anger and disbelief. "You're a right idiot, Potter." She picked up her back and stormed angrily out of the great hall, red hair dancing like a flame behind her.

James stared after her, looking dejected.

"I tried to tell you, James," Violet said. "She doesn't like words that mean so much being thrown around so carelessly."

He looked at her desperately. "I wasn't being careless. I really mean it. Why won't she just give me a chance?"

Violet bit her lip, watching him pityingly.

"Bloody hell," he muttered, frustrated. "I give up."

"Wait, James-"

But he had already stood up and left.

* * *

"Do you happen to know the reason my best friend is currently throwing shoes at walls up in the dormitory?" Sirius asked Violet as she entered the common room.

She sighed in response. "Lily," she told him.

"Ah," was all Sirius said as she took a seat on the couch beside him and leaned against his shoulder.

"He told her his soul mate theory and she got angry at him and left," Violet said. "I _tried _to tell him not to but would he listen?"

"James doesn't really think when it comes to Lily," Sirius said. "It's just how he is."

Violet sighed again and sat up, staring at the fire and thinking over the events of the past week. Even now, a few Gryffindors were tittering in their direction. The novelty of seeing two people in apparent disgrace for being a couple _actually_ being couple-y must not have worn off yet. Her thoughts wandered back to what Connor had said about Remus, something she had been thinking about all week. "Sirius, can I ask you something?" Violet asked.

"I'm going to refrain from commenting that you just did," Sirius answered, grinning. "But yes you can."

Violet rolled her eyes but chose to ignore his contradiction. "I keep thinking about something Connor said. It was about Remus," she looked around nervously, to make sure no one was close enough to listen in. "And … his furry little problem?" Sirius didn't look at her. "What was he talking about?"

Sirius shrugged. "I don't know."

Violet frowned. "What do you mean you don't know? You're one of his best friends."

Sirius shrugged again, not meeting her eye.

"You do know," Violet concluded. "But you won't tell me." She waited but it seemed as though Sirius had gone deaf. "You know I would never tell anyone."

Sirius tried to find the right words to placate her. "I just … I can't."

"Why not?" Violet asked, beginning to feel a hurt creeping up, despite herself. "Don't you trust me?"

"No, it's nothing like that! It's just … I shouldn't be the one to tell you," Sirius said. He thought back to the situation with Snape the school year before. "I've already betrayed Remus' trust about it once and I can't do it again. Please don't ask me too." He was almost begging with her and perhaps it was her shock at the intensity of his conviction that she didn't.

When Sirius went up to his dormitory later, he went straight to Remus. "Moony, who else knows about your wolfy alter ego?"

Remus frowned. "Just you lot and Snape."

"Are you sure?" Sirius asked.

"Yes. Why?"

"Because Connor Ollivander mentioned something about your 'furry little problem' outside the Great Hall and now Violet's asking questions about it." Sirius said.

"Oh." Remus didn't look that shocked. "That's right. He knows too." Unperturbed, Remus went back to folding his clothes.

Sirius stared at him incredulously for a moment, waiting for an explanation. When it appeared none was forthcoming, he said with mock casualness, "And … how exactly did he find out again?"

Remus shrugged. "I came up to the hospital wing one morning after a full moon and he was there too because he was injured during a Quidditch match the day before. Don't you remember in third year how he was hit in the back with a bludger? People were talking about it for weeks."

"So he's known all this time?" Sirius asked.

Remus nodded. "I believe Dumbledore spoke to him. And to my knowledge, he hasn't said anything. Well," he corrected, "until now apparently. What were you saying about Violet?"

"She was just asking me about it," Sirius said.

"And what did you tell her?"

"I didn't," Sirius replied shortly, looking away.

Remus nodded and paused in his actions. "How do you think she'd react?"

"Are you thinking of telling her?" Sirius asked, surprised.

Remus gave a sort of half shrug. "I mean … we've become quite good friends with her. If I tell her and she thinks I'm a monster and is angry at me for deceiving her-"

Sirius actually laughed. "She's not like that, Moony."

Remus sighed heavily. "You'd be surprised who 'is like that' and who isn't."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Vi looks below the surface of people. I mean she's dating me, isn't she? Despite all the rumours about me that go around."

"You know about those?" Remus asked, shocked.

"Of course I do!" Sirius exclaimed. "I'm not that ignorant!"

"Why don't you ever refute them?"

Sirius grinned. "Street cred, my dear Moony." It was Remus' turn to roll his eyes. "But really, if you wanted to tell Violet, you could. She wouldn't tell anyone and her opinion of you wouldn't change."

Remus took Sirius' words seriously. "I'll think about it."

* * *

The term passed quickly and the warm weather brought with it the end of the school year. Violet was conflicted. Whilst she was eager to leave the company of Lucy and go home to her father, she also wanted to stay at Hogwarts, where the negative attention from the other students had deteriorated dramatically and she didn't have to see what state her father was in this time.

At Christmas, he had been more withdrawn, smiling half-heartedly only a few times in her presence; a totally different father to the one she knew. She was scared to see what he had become since then and was fairly certain that she didn't want to be in the presence of her moody, serious, workaholic father who drank too much for six weeks of the holidays but at the same time, wanted to be there all the time to make sure he was alright.

Violet had written to him three times that term, after the only letter she received from him was a very short one (only about three lines long) wishing her a happy easter. All three times, she received no reply. She wondered if he fell down the stairs and died, who would find him if he had no one but her, and she was away at Hogwarts for most of the year?

It was absolutely ridiculous and she knew it – but the thought still sent unpleasant shivers through her, despite the sun that was so often shining these days. As the final day approached, she had also become more withdrawn, in a similar fashion to her own father, she would have realised if she had the benefit of hindsight. Sirius and her friends had noticed.

"Vi," he said, taking her aside before dinner during the last week of school. "Want to come for a walk?"

"Where?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Wherever. Maybe outside? The suns sets later now so-"

"Sure," she said, plastering a bright smile. It would have made anyone else forget that only a second ago, she had been staring into space, frowning ever so slightly so that a small crease had appeared in between her eyebrows.

As they walked towards the lake, Sirius began to speak. "Have you been feeling okay recently?"

"I've been fine," Violet answered. "Why?"

"Because you haven't looked it," Sirius said bluntly. "You always look worried or scared and Marlene told me that she and Lily were worried about you because you haven't been sleeping well."

Violet shrugged uncomfortably.

"Don't shrug it off," Sirius sighed, a little exasperated. "You're doing that thing again where you pretend everything's fine."

Violet rolled her eyes. "Maybe you're just paranoid."

"No, not about this." Sirius said firmly, halting as they reached the lake.

Violet walked a few more steps, at first unaware of him stopping, but quickly covered up her mistake by swinging around to face him directly, her blue eyes hard. "I'm just worried about my dad being on his own. That's the only thing 'bothering' me right now. Happy?"

"Why are you worrying about him so much?"

"It doesn't matter," she said. "It's probably all unfounded anyway."

"If it's making you this upset then-"

"It's not," Violet replied sharply. "I'd tell you if it was, okay? Can you just believe that for me?" She looked away, trying to keep her temper under control. It took her a minute to realise that Sirius was doing the same thing. Immediately she had to rectify the situation and forced her voice to soften. "What are you doing over the summer?"

Sirius, understanding that she was trying to make amends, answered, "Probably just spending the whole time with James and his folks, since I live there now and all. And … I was hoping I could spend some time with you too?" He made this into a question, considering their last exchange.

Violet softened. "Do you mean stay over at mine?"

"Well, not necessarily that," Sirius said. "I mean, that would be great too. But I passed my apparition test – and so did you and basically everyone in the year except Wormtail - so even if we just went out loads of times-"

"I'm sure it would be fine," Violet said. "My dad would be ok with it."_ If he's even home when I am, _she added bitterly. _And if he's not, then I guess it won't matter._

"Even though he's … you know, whatever he is?"

Violet, despite herself, snickered at his attempts to deduce what she was so worried about. "Sirius, I'm just worried he's lonely and overworked," she said, choosing to give him the briefest information possible. "Honestly."

Sirius pondered this for a moment. "If you're sure."

"I am."

Sirius stared at her for a moment then grinned and took her hand. "Well, good. You know, you could probably stay over at Prongs' as well."

"Do you think he'd mind?" Violet asked hopefully, as they continued walking.

"Mind? Are you joking?" Sirius asked. "He'd probably pay you to stay with us for a few nights."

Violet laughed. "I don't think he'd go that far. I'm already staying with Lily for a few days too. I'm really excited to meet her sister actually."

"Ah, I've heard Lily talk about her sister. Petal, or something?" Sirius asked.

"Petunia," Violet corrected.

"Right. I have to admit, I'm curious to see if she and her fiancée are as bad as Lily says," Sirius told her.

"Maybe we can invite you over," Violet pondered. "If Lily is okay with it of course."

"Of course," Sirius grinned.

"You're just going to turn up whether or not Lily says you can, aren't you."

"Yep."

* * *

Violet gave Hogwarts one last parting look on the platform in Hogsmeade, before she was pulled onto the train by Marlene. She dragged her down the train to a compartment and literally almost threw her onto a seat beside Lily and Mary.

"So," Marlene said. "This is it. Our second-last-end-of-school-train-ride ever."

"Wow," Mary said. Lily, too, sat back and stared out the window in contemplative silence.

"Well, it's my first last train ride ever," Violet spoke up after a moment.

"Absolutely true," Marlene said briskly. "So we've got about five years' worth of fun train rides to catch you up on in only this one." She proceeded to pull out a deck of exploding snap cards and a handful of chocolate frogs out from her carry-on bag. "I stocked up just for the occasion."

About an hour into the train ride, there was a knock on the door and it was wretched unceremoniously open by Sirius Black and James Potter (the latter was much to the displeasure of Lily). "Hello ladies! Ah," Sirius said, catching sight of the four of them immersed in a game of exploding snap. "The game of champions. After quidditch, of course, yes Prongs," he added at James' sharp intake of breath.

The four marauders, for Remus and Peter were there too, proceeded to take seats in the two spare spots and on the floor and picked up cards to join in the game.

"Violet," Remus said quietly after the game finished (Mary won) another half an hour later. "I wondered if you would come find the food trolley with me?"

"Uh, sure Remus," Violet said, standing up. She didn't catch the looks Peter, Sirius and James were giving each other.

"Bring me back some Droobles Best Blowing Gum please," Marlene said.

"Sure, Marlene," Violet said, before she and Remus managed to untangle themselves from the crowded compartment and almost fell out into the corridor. "Wow, I can breathe again," she joked. Remus did not even crack a smile and he strode down the hall.

"Let's go in here," Remus said, quickly finding an empty compartment, sliding it shut behind Violet as she stepped in.

"So, what's wrong Moony?" Violet asked.

Remus took a deep breath. "That is."

"What?"

"Moony. You call me Moony, my nickname, but you don't know what it's means," he said. "You asked Sirius once, didn't you?"

"Um, not specifically about just 'Moony'," Violet answered, taking a seat and watching Remus pace back and forth nervously, like a trapped animal. "I did definitely ask about the furry little problem you apparently have though."

"Well," Remus said, "they're sort of connected. I mean, they mean the same thing. They're me."

"Um … you're the furry little problem?" Violet asked, incredibly confused.

Remus laughed despite himself. "Yes, I suppose I am." He took a seat beside her. "Promise not to freak out or get angry or scream, okay?"

Violet nodded, visibly concerned. "Okay, I promise."

"I'm … a werewolf. I was bitten when I was a child."

There was a silence and Remus waited with bated breath for her to run screaming from the compartment but she didn't.

"So let me get this straight," she said slowly, frowning a little. "When James refers to your being a werewolf, he calls it 'your furry little problem'?" She paused. "That is so _James_."

Remus stared at her. "You're not ... scared of me."

"What? No. Of course not," Violet said, almost dismissively. "Furry little problem. Bloody hell, I thought you had an insane pet rabbit or something."

"So, you're ok with … with me-"

"Honestly, Remus, yes! You're still the same person I've known since the first of September! Honestly, I'm a little insulted that you thought I'd be upset or something. But furry little problem, though! What the hell?"

Remus found it in himself to laugh at how dumbstruck she was – not at his condition, but at James' name for it. "Come on. Let's get back to the others."

"I hope Marlene isn't mad that we didn't get her gum."

* * *

On the platform Lily was immediately hailed by her mother, and after hugging Violet, Marlene and Mary with quick good byes to everyone else (even to James, even if it was a little cold), she left, pulling her trunk behind her. Marlene, Mary, Remus and Peter also all left in search of their own families, offering everyone good byes and promising to see each other over the holidays. With every departure, Violet felt her anxiety at seeing her father grow more and more pronounced.

She scanned the platform and amongst the chaos of reuniting families, she couldn't see much of anything.

"Let's go wait somewhere," James suggested, as the three of them stood looking at faces in the crowd. The three of them made their way over to some benches, slightly apart from throng of families and students and took seats.

Sirius put his hands behind his head and stretched out his legs, looking the very epitome of relaxed. "We'll wait 'til some of the crowd goes and then we'll get up and start-" he broke off very suddenly staring into the crowd.

Violet turned her head to where he was looking. At first, she couldn't tell what had stopped him mid-sentence, but then she saw his brother, Regulus, dressed in black with his dark hair neatly parted, silhouetted against the steam from the train in between two similarly dressed figures – they could only be his parents. And if they were his parents, they were Sirius'.

She peered curiously at them, observing quietly. Sirius was the complete opposite of the three of them. Whilst they stood straight and tall and stared down their noses at everyone and everything around them, Sirius was casual and laid back and looked at you directly. Sirius' mother caught his eye. For a moment, they stared each other down and Violet and James wondered what she would do. She sniffed haughtily, sneering, placed a hand on Regulus' shoulder and directed them to the exit, back into the muggle world. His father and brother had not even seen him.

Violet and James sat uncomfortably as Sirius watched them go with narrow eyes. He did not look around until they were completely out of sight and once they were, Sirius broke into a bitter smile. "I keep forgetting I never have to go back there again." Neither Violet nor James knew exactly how to respond, so James tactfully changed the subject.

"When are you going to come stay with us over the summer, Vi?" James asked.

"Anytime." she said. "Except the fourth week. I'm staying with Lily that week."

At her words, James' face darkened and Violet mentally slapped herself. She'd forgotten James and Lily were not on good terms. "It's probably better this way," Lily had said uncomfortably. "And he's stopped asking me out every few days! He just leaves me alone now." But Violet could see that she wasn't exactly pleased about the situation and wanted to rectify it. But neither she, nor James, was willing to take the first step towards an apology.

"Well you can come and stay before or after-"

"James!"

"Mum!" James stood and willingly wrapped his arms around his mother in a tight hug. As he stepped back, Violet got a proper look of Mrs Potter for the first time. James was slightly taller than her and she had sandy brown hair. She looked much older than Violet's mother – probably in her early to mid sixties. Sirius had mentioned that James' parents had struggled to conceive and that having James – especially at the age they were – was quite honestly a miracle. She could see James had inherited her eyes and smile and stature, and was watching her with a large amount of respect that she hadn't really seen him show any adult at Hogwarts.

"Sirius," Mrs Potter embraced him in warm hug as well. She looked past him and caught sight of Violet. "And you must be the girl who's coming to stay with us later these holidays."

Violet smiled and nodded, shaking Mrs Potter's out stretched hand. "Violet Bryce."

"Emilia Potter. The boys _are_ being good to you, aren't they? Usually they can't help but irritate people; even friends," she said jovially. James rolled his eyes and Sirius failed to suppress a grin.

"They've been fine," Violet replied, trying not to laugh herself.

"Is Dad here, Mum?" James asked suddenly, looking around.

"He had to work." Mrs Potter's smile faltered a little but it brightened again when she looked at Violet. "Is your family here Violet? I'd love to meet them."

At her words, Violet's own smile wavered and she cast a quick glance over the platform. "I live with my father. He doesn't appear to be here yet. But I'm sure he's on the way."

"Oh, that's a shame. We can wait with you, if you'd like?" Mrs Potter asked, a little concerned.

"No, no. I'm sure he'll be here soon. He may have gotten held up or something," Violet replied hastily.

It took a little more convincing, but eventually Mrs Potter left with James and Sirius. Violet hugged James goodbye quickly and then Sirius. "Wait a couple of days before you come to see me," she said to him, as their hug ended. "I want to spend a couple of days with dad alone." _And clean up the house if I have to,_ she thought.

Sirius looked at her strangely but agreed. He bent his head to kiss her gently before squeezing her hand and going with James and Mrs Potter.

"Sirius, dear, how come you never told me you had a girlfriend?" Violet heard Mrs Potter say as they walked to the barrier. "You're my second son - you should inform me of these things."

Violet watched them go bemusedly before the reality of her situation hit her and she sat down on top of her trunk, watching the platform slowly grow emptier and emptier. Eventually there was only the odd group of people – families who knew each other – standing and chatting and a couple of workers walking along the platform. Violet looked at her watch. Her father had never been this late in picking her up from anything ever.

For a moment she was sitting, frozen – she was alone in London, a city that she was largely unfamiliar with. Who could she go to? What should she do? Could she find someone to contact? Then she remembered she had passed her apparition test – with flying colours no less.

The sense of paralysing panic left her and relief settled in as she gripped her trunk firmly, hoping she wouldn't splinch because of the particularly large, dense item, and with a crack disappeared from platform nine and three quarters and reappeared outside the house she and her father had moved into barely a year ago.

The house was two storeys with an attic and had a blue-grey shingled roof. It was made of a combination of stone and wood painted mostly white and had one chimney, currently not in use. It had a very large garden, made up of long reeds and almost knee high grass and wild bushes and shrubs with colourful flowers in bloom surrounded by a stone fence. It was by no means neat, but it fit in with the town surrounding it; a quiet holiday town with lots of privately owned summer homes surrounded by forests and quiet beaches. A little way away was the proper tourist town with small hotels and cottages that could be rented, and restaurants and large beaches. Although Violet hadn't lived in the town long she liked it. There was always something beautiful to see, but the beauty wasn't extravagant; it was modest and easily missed.

Now that she was home, her concern for her father grew. Perhaps all her fears were correct, was all she could think as she dragged her trunk behind her along the cobbled path and up to the front door. She knocked but the door was unlocked and she was able to walk in easily.

"Dad," she called, leaving her trunk by the stairs in the hallway. "Hello?" She hurried through the kitchen and into the living room and with a sense of relief, saw her father pushing himself off the faded plush red couch.

"Violet," he said, his voice coarse. "When did … how did you …"

"You were supposed to pick me up," Violet said, eyeing him up and down, taking in his bedraggled appearance. "I apparated home when you didn't come."

Her father looked confused for a moment. "Pick you up? I …" his eyes widened. "I was, wasn't I? I'm sorry, I just overslept. I had a twelve hour shift last night and I came home and I must have…" he trailed off and Violet took note of the empty firewhiskey bottle by the end of the couch and the few empty glass bottles on the dining table.

"Don't worry about it," she smiled at him reassuringly. Inside her mind was whirring and she was anything but reassured. But she wanted to move past that and instead continued hopefully, "Dad, I have so much I want to tell you about school. I sent a few letters but you must not have gotten them. A few of my friends want me to-"

"Vi, I want to listen, I do. But I have to organise some things for my shift this afternoon. Can you perhaps tell me about them later?" William Bryce asked, running a hand through his thinning hair.

In that instant, Violet knew it would be just like Christmas and she mentally prepared herself for the lonely evening she would spend unpacking her trunk. She smiled. "Of course."

* * *

**First off, thank you for the new reviews, follows and favourites! And thank you to everyone else you keeps coming back to read this! **

**_Starcrier_ - Expect that Snape conversation in one of the upcoming summer chapters. :)  
**

**_Lalina92_ - Violet's mother will eventually become part of the story so yes, we will definitely meet her! **

**I've realised, with school and my final exams creeping closer and closer, that I'm only going to be able to update a new chapter once a week. If I find the time to write and edit and then update more than once, then I absolutely will! But with the amount of schoolwork I have to do currently, it's not looking likely. But I promise, I will not abandon this story! **


	15. Chapter 15

**SUMMER - WEEK ONE.**

Sirius came to visit Violet on the afternoon of the third day into the holidays. He apparated to the address Violet had given him before they left school and observed the house curiously as he walked down the path to the front door. It was big and seemed airy and light but also strangely empty and had a feeling of being somewhat disused.

Sirius knocked on the door and stepped back, looking around. The nearest house was across the large garden and behind a stone wall and the other was across the street, behind its own high wall in the middle of another large garden, affording Violet's house a fair amount of privacy. He heard a faint patter of bare feet running on wooden floors before the door was flung open.

"Sirius!" Violet exclaimed before leaping at him and wrapping her arms and legs around him in a hug so quickly that he barely managed to catch and hold her. "You _finally_ came!"

"Yes," Sirius was confused but also entertained by her excitement. "It's only been three days."

"I know but I've been so lonely! Even though I was the one who told you to wait a bit. But dad's always at work these days and most of the families around here are still arriving so it's been really quiet and really boring." She let go of him and dropped lightly to the floor, barely allowing Sirius to get a good look at her as she took his hand and pulled him into the house. Her wavy blonde hair was messier than normal, done up in a hasty bun and she wore a long, lightweight white dress with a low cut v-neck collar. Bare feet poked out from underneath the skirt of her dress every time she took a step.

She dragged him down the hall into the living room with wide windows and plush red couches. "So this is my house," she said, turning to face him with a smile and outstretched arms.

"It's really nice - loads nicer than my families house. Not James'," he corrected quickly. "My old one."

Violet laughed lightly. "I'm sure that wouldn't be difficult, from what you've described."

"No," Sirius admitted. "James' house is pretty nice compared to it too."

"I look forward to seeing it." They stared at each other for a moment. "Do you want to go to the beach? I've been cooped up in this place ever since I got back."

"Sure," Sirius agreed. The sun, in the late afternoon, was setting and while it was still hot, the heat that had been beating down all day was slowly cooling. Plus, Violet's town had a soothing, relaxed atmosphere that had him actually longing to walk barefoot across the sand, which he could confidently say had never particularly appealed to him before.

"Just let me get my wand," Violet said. "It's in my room. Come on."

She took him back down the hallway, up the stairs and they entered the furthest room on the right. Violet's room was painted a very pale yellow and the windows were open, letting in a sea salty breeze. The curtains were white and organza and her bed was in the corner, next to them. On the floor was a record player with a small stack of records. The rest were on a long bookshelf, which took up most of one wall, which was also (funnily enough) lined with books; both wizarding and muggle. Her open trunk sat in front of her wardrobe, debris littering the bottom of it and a few items of clothing thrown untidily over the sides.

"Sorry for the mess," Violet said, speaking of the few items of clothing and the records on the floor.

"Please. You have seen our dormitory at school," Sirius joked, sitting on her floor to look at the records – this stack was mostly muggle music - as she rummaged around her unmade bed._ The Beatles; typical. Pink Floyd; a little unexpected. The Who; not unbelievable. Sex Pistols; ... definitely unexpected._ "You like the Sex Pistols?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"Mm hm," she said, still rummaging. "Why?"

"You don't really seem the type, that's all" Sirius said.

Violet scoffed and turned to face him. "Sirius Black, I would have thought that with your dear friend, Remus Lupin, you would know not to take people at face-"

"Yeah, yeah," Sirius waved his hand dismissively, continuing to flip through her records.

"Ah ha!" she exclaimed after a moment. "Found it."

"Where was it?" Sirius asked, pulling himself to his feet.

"Caught in between the sheets and the mattress," Violet said, shoving the wand into a pocket in her dress. She took his hand. "Beach. Come on. Let's go."

* * *

The beach was very quiet. Only a few stragglers were down this far. The holiday beaches, where all the tourists were, were further up and no one but those who lived permanently in the town came down this way, perhaps because it wasn't quiet as pretty. Violet, although she hadn't been here all that long, definitely seemed like she belonged in the place, Sirius thought. She was too comfortable walking along the sand strewn with seaweed and driftwood to be anything but. She had even left the house without shoes, encouraging him to do the same and saying they wouldn't need them; the beach was only down the path less two minutes away.

"Was your home in France like this?" Sirius asked her as they walked.

"Like what?" Violet asked.

"In a tourist town only a minute away from the beach," Sirius specified.

"Oh. Well, it wasn't really in a tourist town but it was pretty close to the sea," Violet answered. "We lived outside the main town, for seclusion, on a small cliff with only few houses spread far out along our road. The beaches were closer to the town, so they were further away from my house then they are here. Actually, that was pretty lucky."

"Why?"

"My mum never really knew where I was when I was with muggle friends during the summer. Despite us living there for a long time, she didn't like to go into town and my friends and I always went to the small quiet beaches, a bit like this one," Violet replied, waving down the beach. "And I'm pretty sure she always thought I was with friends from Beauxbatons anyway."

"Do you still speak to your muggle friends?" Sirius asked. "Write to them or anything?"

"No," Violet said shortly. "It's not like they knew I was actually a witch or anything. They just thought I went to some fancy boarding school in Cannes. Which isn't too far from the truth, actually," she half laughed, before tilting her head absentmindedly in thoughtfulness. "I wonder what my mum would have thought about me hanging around with muggles."

Sirius barked a laugh. "If she was anything like my parents, she probably would have tried to push you down the stairs." He laughed again. Violet's eyebrows, however, shot upwards.

"Push you down the stairs?" Violet repeated, stopping abruptly.

"Oh, it was a joke," Sirius said, his laugh losing its momentum and his face paling a little.

"Was it?" Violet asked incredulously.

"Yes," Sirius said with forced certainty.

"Your voice says yes but your face says no," Violet snapped tersely. Realising she had gotten worked up, she forced herself to calm down. "Sorry." Sirius wasn't looking at her. "Sirius, I'm sorry." She moved closer to him to speak quietly. "Don't be angry at me."

For one terse moment, Sirius didn't answer and Violet worried that she had pushed him too far. "I'm not angry at you," Sirius told her. He took her hand and began walking again. "Let's just forget it."

Violet wasn't going to forget it. But she could not speak about it for now and wait until later. "Do you want to start heading back?" she asked after a moment. "It's getting dark. You can stay for dinner."

Sirius perked up at the mention of food. "Dinner? Great. Your dad won't mind, though, right?" he asked.

"He probably won't be home," Violet shrugged.

"Oh." Sirius almost exhaled in relief at the thought of not having to meet Violet's father. At the same time though, he wondered about what Violet had said about him before they left school. "When will he get back?"

Violet shrugged again. "Whenever, I guess. He left for work after I got home from the platform and didn't turn up again until yesterday evening. Then this morning, he left for work again. So, it's anyone's guess."

"What does he do again?" Sirius asked.

"He works in the Department of International Magical Co-Operation. I'm not entirely sure what he does now though; it's probably something to do with French Ministry workers in England or something but I don't know why the hours he works are so long," Violet bit her lip, frowning slightly in worry. Then, as if remembering she wasn't alone, brightened again and squeezed Sirius' hand reassuringly. "But I'm sure it's nothing. You like pasta, right?"

Sirius took note of the quick change in topic and used it to confirm his suspicions that Violet's worry was running deeper then she let on. But he didn't push the subject. "Of course I like pasta. Do we have to cook it though?"

"Ah, I love how you said 'we' instead of just expecting me to do it," Violet grinned. "And yes, we do. You can cook pasta, right?"

"Oh, well, I've never actually …"

"I thought as much. Don't worry. It's pretty simple," Violet reassured him. She smiled again, a hint of her former cheekiness in her eyes; the one Sirius used to see all the time at the beginning of the school year. "And while we wait, we can do other things."

Sirius raised an eyebrow at the implication. "What other things?"

Violet shrugged innocently as she pulled him up the beach and back down the path.

* * *

Sirius knew he was awake but he didn't want to open his eyes. This was partly because Violet's bed was ridiculously comfortable and partly because the only layer between his bare chest and her skin was a thin blue singlet. And he was pretty determined on keeping it that way.

She, however, had other ideas.

"Merde," she muttered sleepily, turning to face him as he reluctantly opened his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked.

"I'm really comfortable," she answered, blinking at the ceiling.

Sirius looked at her blankly. "Right. And … what's wrong with that?"

Violet sighed, eyeing the clock perched on her shelf. "I wanted to go to the morning markets - they have them once a month here – but I'm so comfortable that I don't want to move."

This was alright with Sirius and he proceeded to close his eyes in hopes of drifting off again and pulling her with him. But then the bed dipped as Violet pushed herself upright and she clambered over Sirius' form to head to her wardrobe. Sirius opened one eye and watched her dig through her clothes in nothing but a pale blue singlet and underwear. The weather was already considerably warm, despite the early hour. "Aren't you supposed to hate mornings?"

"Yes," Violet replied. "But I really want to go to the markets, so I'm making an exception today." She held up a shirt with cut off sleeves and ran her eyes over it. "You don't have to come if you don't want too."

Sirius snorted. "That's a joke, right?" he sat up. "I'm here to spend time with you, not your bed."

Violet eyed him. "I'm relieved to hear that. I was worried for a moment that I'd lost you to it."

Sirius rolled his eyes, lips twitching upwards. "Can I take a shower?"

"Of course. Directly across the hall," Violet said, turning her attention back to her clothes.

* * *

Less than half an hour later, they had both dressed and were walking up the long road, past houses – many still and quiet in the early morning – to the park. When they arrived, Sirius was surprised to see that there were already a fair number of people teeming around the stalls and the smells of hot food wafted over to them.

"Want breakfast?" Violet asked, as they drifted over to the first few food stalls. Sirius gave her a look that made her roll her eyes and laugh. "Of course you do." After they had bought food, using Violet's muggle money – Sirius had watched the exchange curiously – they began wondering around the park, looking at all the different items on display.

"How has James been?" Violet asked, as they passed a table of heavy, woven blankets in warm colours and intricate patterns. "You know, since he and Lily had that falling out."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "He's fine when he's doing things but every time his mind wanders, he gets all moody and goes on and on about how he can't stand her anymore and I have to find a way to distract him again."

Violet frowned. "He isn't serious though?"

"No, I am!" Sirius joked, unable to resist.

Violet stared at him, her face showing only vague traces of amusement.

Sirius let his grin fall into a childish pout. No one ever laughed at the Sirius/serious puns these days. "No he isn't. Or rather, I don't think he is. He's been chasing Lily ever since we realised that girls weren't actually gross. And he liked her before that as well. I just think," he paused, "that he's sick of being treated like the guy he was when he was fourteen or fifteen."

"Hm. I've heard he was very different. Both of you were," Violet said.

"Yeah, we were gits," Sirius laughed. "Still are a bit. But we definitely aren't as bad as we were back then. Anyway," Sirius continued. "I'm glad I'm out of the house for bit. Playing one-on-one quidditch all day was beginning to get unbearable."

"To distract him?" Violet guessed.

"Yep."

Violet laughed in spite of herself. "That's so James." Something caught her eye at a jewellery table; a selection necklaces and bracelets made of rough cord and pearly white and green-blue crystals, all laid out neatly in lines.

"These are nice," Violet murmured, letting go of Sirius's hand to pick up a bracelet made entirely of the crystal.

"It's apophyllite," a voice said. Violet and Sirius looked around to see an old woman with long salt-and-pepper hair braided and thrown over her shoulder, wearing long a long beaded skirt and a loose, white shirt. "They're for recognising truth. Do you like it?" Her accent, while very English, had a thick, distinct edge to it.

"I do," Violet said, running her fingers over the jagged edges of the crystal. "I'd like to buy it."

"Wonderful," the woman said, watching Violet rummage through her pockets for some change. "Are you here on holiday?"

"Oh, no I live around here," Violet smiled. "But I haven't for very long; only for about a year and I'm away at school for most of the time anyway."

"Ah," the woman said. "I did wonder because I can hear a little of France in the way you pronounce some of your vowel sounds. Very faint though."

Violet beamed. "I am English but I lived half of my life near Omaha Beach in France."

"Oh I lived there for a very short while! I travelled a lot with my family as a child before the second world war. We decided to settle down after it ended," the woman explained as Violet handed her the money.

"You lived through the war? Wow," Violet said, genuinely awed. "Do you remember any of it?"

The woman shrugged. "Bits and pieces. I was very young …" she drifted off staring into space. "We were the lucky ones, you know? My family. Gypsies were persecuted by Hitler's regime. My immediate family ended up escaping from France when it was occupied and we settled here in England. Some of those we travelled with and other members of our family were … not so lucky." Both Sirius and Violet were listening intently now, thinking of the wizarding war constantly looming overhead and the attacks that were growing evermore frequent.

"Do you remember them?" Sirius asked her. "The not so lucky ones?"

"Of course." The woman swallowed, the creases on her face becoming a little more pronounced as she frowned. "It's a little hazy sometimes – I was merely a child and it was such a long time ago – but I do remember. I don't think I'll ever forget." She closed Violet's hand over the bracelet and smiled. "Look after it."

"I will," Violet promised, slipping it onto her wrist.

When they left the stall and the woman, both Sirius and Violet were quiet. "It's strange, isn't it," Violet said, slipping her hand into Sirius', " to think that after this war is over and people have fought and died, that people in the future will look back at it and wonder what it was like to live through it."

"You say that like you expect us to win," Sirius said.

"I do. We have too." Violet pursued her lips, looking at the ground as they walked. "I think that's what I want to do, you know? Fight in the war. Or contribute to it somehow. Maybe healing."

"I think I'm the same," Sirius said. "Though I'm not too sure how I feel about you being sent in to fight Death Eaters. I'd be afraid you wouldn't come back."

Violet scoffed and eyed Sirius. "Because I'm a girl?" she asked sardonically.

Sirius looked at her quite seriously. "You know I'm not like that. Wouldn't you be worried if I was going out every night to fight as well?"

Violet, feeling a little ashamed at herself for jumping to conclusions, nodded. "Yeah, of course. Sorry."

"Don't apologise. It's not a problem" Sirius said, squeezing her hand lightly, before pulling her closer to him and throwing an arm over her shoulders. Violet wrapped an arm around his waist and they left the park and the markets behind them, heading back to Violet's house.

* * *

**I know this isn't as long as my usual chapters and for that, I apologise. I also apologise for any spelling/grammar/just in general mistakes I've made in this chapter; it's almost midnight here and I've had the busiest past few days so I'm basically falling asleep but I was desperate to upload so here - HUZZAH!  
On another note, I'm feeling a little dread at having to write the chapters where things get darker and darker and it basically all goes to hell and my favourite characters die and all that. But at the same time, I can't wait because I've had so many ideas and I can't wait to let it out.  
****And thanks for all the new reviews, follows and favourites! I know I say that every chapter but I truly appreciate it all and everyone who continues to read this! **


	16. Chapter 16

**Alrighty, so this chapter is where things start getting a little bit more adult. If you're a young'un, _please_ don't let me corrupt you (I am praying to whichever spiritual entity that exists that I do not). If you're uncomfortable with some of the stuff, let me know and I'll begin putting warnings and things at the beginnings of my chapters from here on. Leave a note in reviews about it if that's what you want. That's all.**

* * *

**SUMMER - WEEK TWO. **

Violet lay stretched out on the dry sand, not caring that the grains were getting into her clothes and hair. The air was very humid, and it would have been unbearable if it wasn't for the breeze; and above her the sky was a sharp blue scattered with thin pearly white clouds. She had often found herself out in the sunshine on the beach these days – the house was incredibly lonely and the silence was beginning to get intolerable. At least on the beach she didn't feel boxed in and there was the slightest possibility she would run into someone interesting. Sirius had visited a couple of times the week before, bringing James with him, and she and Lily had visited Marlene once but she couldn't keep relying on her friends to take her in every time she was bored and besides, she was afraid of appearing needy.

Her father had been in and out, often arriving at strange hours and leaving again the next morning, "for work," he would insist. Violet pretended not to smell the vague stench of alcohol on him. He hadn't come home absolutely wasted yet – for all she knew, he just went to the pub after work for drinks with friends. Of course, there were very obvious flaws to that theory, but Violet was certain that they could be explained. She had to be.

"Vi," she heard a voice – Sirius, she recognised – call. A shadow fell over her and she opened her eyes, squinting up at his silhouette against the bright sky.

"Hello," Violet said, sitting up as Sirius sat down. "Why are you wearing shoes?" she asked, pointing to Sirius' worn converse.

Sirius shrugged. "I went to your house. When I saw you weren't there, I came to find you and I forgot to take them off."

"Silly," Violet said, lying back down on the sand and wiggling her toes into the warm sand. "Just leave them on the porch next time." She closed her eyes again.

"Are you feeling ok?" Sirius asked, eyeing her suspiciously. "You seem a bit … strange."

"I'm perfectly fine," Violet said. "I've been a bit lonely though."

"Sorry," Sirius said, "I would've come over yesterday but Mr Potter was really sick and I thought it would be best if I stayed."

"Is he ok?" Violet asked concernedly, propping herself up on her elbows.

"He's alright now," Sirius said. "But they still don't know what caused it, although a couple of the healers at St Mungo's thought …"

"Thought what?" Violet asked, when Sirius didn't continue. "Sirius?"

"James' dad is the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in Britain - which you know, right?" Violet nodded. James had mentioned it once but it had seemed he didn't like to talk about it, so she had never really pushed the topic. "The healers had a theory that somehow Mr Potter came into contact with a dark or cursed magical item, but the contact with it wasn't sustained for very long so the effect wasn't as strong as it should have been – and they think the desired result would have meant that he would have been dead within a day. A little later, James and I left for a bit and when we got back, we overheard a conversation in the ward between Mr and Mrs Potter and some of the Auror's – they think that somehow the Death Eaters arranged to have the whatever it was positioned close enough to kill him." Sirius paused momentarily, as if deciding whether or not he should continue. "Mr Potter's junior assistant was found dead in his office this morning."

Violet's eyes widened and suddenly her troubles didn't seem that terrible anymore, because someone had died. Someone with friends and family and - judging from his position in the Ministry - a career that was just beginning to take off. Whoever it was had had their whole lives ahead of them. Sirius and Violet sat quietly in the bright sunshine for a moment, both silently thanking the forces that be that it wasn't someone they knew.

"Are they sure it was a dark magical object?" Violet eventually asked.

Sirius shrugged. "There isn't much more of an explanation. Mr Potter's as high up as you can be in magical law enforcement."

"What are they going to do?"

"Mr Potter mentioned that he was considering resigning from his position this morning when he was released from St Mungo's," Sirius said.

Violet sat up properly and folded her knees up to fit underneath her chin. "What do James and Mrs Potter think?"

Sirius shrugged. "I don't think either of them want him forced out of his job but if it's that and having him safe compared to … well."

"What do you think?" Violet asked. "Mrs Potter said she considered you a second son."

Sirius dragged his hand through the sand. "I'm the same. I don't want him to stop doing his job, because he's worked so hard for it, but if it's going to risk his life… it's like you said – they've treated me like their son and they've become my family and if he dies-"

"He won't, Sirius," Violet said, placing a hand over the one Sirius was dragging through the sand. "I mean, everyone has to die eventually, of course. But he won't die like that."

Sirius was quiet for a moment, staring down at their intertwined hands resting in the sand. "Remember the Uncle I told you about?"

"Which one?" Violet asked uncertainly. Sirius had a lot of uncles and it was hard to keep track of who was who.

"Alphard," Sirius specified. "The one who's put me down to inherit everything he owns after he dies."

"Oh, him. Yes, I remember," Violet said.

"He's sold his house," Sirius said, "and he's in a ward at St Mungo's now because he can't really look after himself anymore. I went to visit him yesterday too – that's where James and I went when we left." He paused. "We're literally just waiting for him to die."

Violet didn't quite know what to say.

"I've only met him a few times before I left, you know?" Sirius said, finally looking at Violet directly. "Him, me and my cousin, Andromeda, are the only sane ones in the family. He helped her out as well when she married a muggleborn a couple of years back and she was disinherited. He didn't tell the rest of the family. I only found out because I kept in contact with her." Violet opened her mouth to say something, but Sirius continued. "I kept wondering why he hasn't told them what he really thinks so I asked when I visited him yesterday. Know what he said?" Violet shook her head. "'Despite everything, they're still family'." He grimaced and shook his head angrily. "Makes me feel like a right asshole. I left my brother in that house and because he's got all this pressure from mum and dad on him now that I've gone, he's already signed up to be Voldemort's pawn."

"You can't control Regulus' actions," Violet protested.

"And they'll find out Uncle Alphard helped me out when he's dead," Sirius said, continuing as though Violet hadn't spoken. "They'll find out and then they'll blast him off the family tapestry too and it'll be my fault."

"I'm sure he knows what he's doing," Violet said. "He knows the consequences of helping you out. In fact, he probably expects their reaction."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Sirius snapped.

Violet let go of his hand. "I suppose not. Either way, Sirius, it's what he wants and because of that, I don't think you should be too hard on yourself over it. You can't help your circumstances."

"If I hadn't left, I wouldn't need-"

"You'd be surrounded a horrible family who treated dirt and you'd be miserable," Violet retorted. "You'd be forced into things you shouldn't be forced into and – what did you say the other day? 'Pushed down the stairs', wasn't it?"

Sirius glared at her. "Don't bring that up."

"Why not?" Violet asked sharply. "Come on, Sirius. You're always saying I should trust you more but then you won't explain things like that to me and I have to work them out for myself."

Sirius' eyes filled with anger but he managed to keep his voice under control. "Where's your Dad, Violet? Did he end up coming home last night? Or are they still making him work forty eight hour shifts?"

It felt like every nerve in her body was on fire and plunged into ice water at once and Violet clenched her jaw, resisting the urge to hit him. Instead she stood up abruptly and strode away, down to where the sand on the beach ended and the rocks started, wanting to get as far away from him as she could. She knew it was partly her fault for bringing up his comment about the stairs – which clearly troubled him - but she was too furious that she didn't care.

* * *

As Sirius watched her half-run from him, he felt his anger drain away.

"Shit," he muttered, running his hands through his hair in frustration. He knew he shouldn't have gone there. She had only been trying to help and he'd been … well, he'd been a git basically.

Exhaling heavily, he began to hurry in the direction she had gone, past a few thin trees growing up through rocks. Sand disappeared from under his feet and was replaced by smooth, flat stone instead.

"Vi," he called, seeing her up ahead, standing with her face in her hands and wild blonde hair tumbling around her shoulders. At his call, she began moving quickly away again but he sped up, running across the rocks and disturbing a few rock pools before he finally caught up to her and grabbed her arm. "Vi-"

"Oh piss off," she cried, wrenching her arm out of his grasp. Sirius noted with alarm that her eyes were shiny with angry tears.

"I'm sorry, ok?" Sirius said urgently. "I was upset and being a twat and you were just trying to help me."

"Yeah and look at where that got me!" Violet replied angrily. "I guess I won't bother next time, so- " even as she spoke, Sirius could see something inside her shatter and her face contorted as she couldn't hold back her distress any longer and she buried her face in her hands again.

"Shit," Sirius muttered again before embracing her. She pressed her face, still beneath her hands, to his chest and took at shuddering breath. She had to stop crying. She had done enough of that last summer. "I'm sorry. I was in a bad mood when I came and I took it out on you."

Violet pulled back from him. "Yeah, you did," she said. "But I brought up the stairs incident. So I'm in the wrong too and I'm sorry."

Sirius winced at the mention of it and glanced away.

"You're going to have to tell me about it one day," Violet told him gently, watching him.

Sirius shrugged. "I will. Just … not now."

Violet sighed but nodded.

* * *

As they reached the sand again, Violet heard her name being called and she swung around to one of the paths along the line of grass and trees where the sand stopped.

"Violet!"

"Ben!" Violet said, surprised. "I … I didn't expect to see you." She glanced over at Sirius who was sizing up Ben's tall, muscular frame and blonde hair with guarded curiosity.

"Yeah, it's been fair while," he grinned, reaching for a hug, which she accepted. "Good school year?"

"It was alright," Violet replied. "When did you get here?"

"Yesterday," Ben said. "We drove up and spent the day unpacking. Hi, I'm Ben," he said, turning to Sirius and shaking his hand.

"Sirius," Sirius took it and gripped a little harder than normal.

"Sirius? Interesting name. You know Violet then?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, he's visiting me. He goes to my school," Violet said.

"Cool," Ben said. "The Turner's and the Garrison's arrived a few days ago as well – Julian and Teresa are throwing a bonfire party on the narrow beach strip near their families place tomorrow night. Everyone from last summer will be there and a few new people from the hotels. Want to come?"

Violet smirked. "You weren't looking for me just to tell me that, were you?"

Ben shrugged, a modest smile on his face. "I went by your house but no one was home. I figured you'd be out here and I thought, hey, what have I got to lose?"

Violet rolled her eyes. "I might come by. It's not like I have anything else to do."

"You should bring your friends from school," Ben said, turning to Sirius. "You're invited too if you want."

Sirius regarded him for a moment before he looked at Violet for permission. "Sure, I guess," he said, when she nodded.

"Wicked!" Ben grinned. "It's going to be even bigger than last year at this rate. I'll see you there, then. Sirius," His eyes lingered over him before drifting to Violet's. "Violet," he winked at her before, leaving the way he came.

Sirius turned to Violet with an expectant expression on his face. Violet didn't notice and the two began walking again to the path to Violet's house.

"So, was that him?" Sirius asked, unable to keep his curiosity to himself any longer.

"Was that … who?" Violet looked at him, confused.

"You know," Sirius said, feeling slightly uncomfortable. "The guy you had … the arrangement with last summer." Violet stared at him blankly for a moment and then burst out laughing. "Is that funny?" Sirius asked uncertainly.

Violet said through laughter, "It definitely wasn't him."

"Really," Sirius said doubtfully. "You two seemed pretty close."

Violet finally had stopped laughing enough to face Sirius and say, "Ben is gay, Sirius. And I'm pretty certain his suggestion to 'bring my friends from school' was just an excuse to have me bring you along." She laughed again and began walking away from him, leaving Sirius standing there with a dumbstruck expression.

"Wait!" Sirius shouted, coming to his senses and running to catch up with her. "So that was why you didn't introduce me as your boyfriend?"

"Yeah," Violet admitted. "I saw him eyeing you up and I just wanted to see if you noticed. Obviously, you didn't. Anyway, I've had my fun. I'll break it to him tomorrow night."

"What – that's – you-" Violet tried to suppress the laugh that was bubbling up again as Sirius tried to formulate a sentence.

"Let's go back to my house," Violet suggested, smiling.

"Alright," Sirius agreed. "Though I don't think I can stay, with Mr Potter's-"

"I understand," Violet said. "And I understand if you and James don't want to come tomorrow too."

"No, that should be fine. I need to get Prongs out of the house anyway. He's been so sulky about Lily and then with this happening ... it's not been a great summer," Sirius said.

"Actually, I thinking of inviting Lily and Marlene too," Violet told him. "James will be alright with that, won't he?"

Sirius shrugged. "I won't tell him and he can deal with it like he did before the end of term."

"If you're sure," Violet said.

"I am." They reached Violet's house. "And Vi," Sirius said, taking her hand to stop her. "I really am sorry."

Immediately, Violet sobered. "I know you are. I am too."

They stared at each other for a moment before Sirius let go of her hand. "I should get home. I'll come here with James, Remus and Pete tomorrow afternoon?"

"After dinner," Violet clarified. "Just knock on the front door. I'll wait for you all."

"Okay. See you tomorrow," Sirius said. He moved as though he was going to kiss her good bye but thought better of it and disapparated, leaving Violet standing alone, staring out into the garden at the setting sun.

* * *

"He apologised to you first?" Lily asked, wide eyed from her perch in Violet's kitchen.

"Yes," Violet said, snapping the fridge shut. "But afterwards it was just different. It felt like something had shifted."

"Like what?" Lily asked, spinning around in her seat to look concernedly at Violet.

Violet didn't look around and shrugged. "It just felt like something changed. But it doesn't matter," Violet faced Lily with a smile. "I'm sure I'm being silly. Besides, we're going to a party!" She darted over to a high cupboard and pulled out a tall bottle of vodka and a six pack of beer. "We have so much that my dad won't notice if I take some," she told Lily as Lily raised an eyebrow.

"Just how much are you planning on drinking?" Lily asked, as Violet proceeded to open the vodka bottle and take a swig, making a face at the bitter taste.

"We'll see," Violet said. She caught Lily's worried expression and sighed. "Don't worry about me. I know my limits." She held out the bottle. "Want some?"

Lily rolled her eyes but accepted the bottle and took a small sip just as the doorbell rang and Violet ran excitedly down the hall to get it.

"Hello, my dear friends!" she exclaimed, her arms flung wide, as James, Remus, Sirius and Peter stared at her blankly for a second before she grabbed the two nearest – James and Peter – and hugged them. "Don't just stand there, come in!"

She led them into the kitchen where Lily was seated facing away from them. At her back, James froze and his eyes widened. Lily's long red hair was clipped over one shoulder and she was wearing blue and white floral patterned dress with no sleeves that ended half way down her thighs. Basically she looked gorgeous and James knew it.

And then he remembered that they weren't on speaking terms so he closed right back up.

"We're all here?" Remus asked, taking a seat beside Lily. "You look beautiful by the way," he added to her.

"Thank you Remus," Lily smiled. "And yes, Marlene and Amber are upstairs getting ready."

"Amber?" Sirius repeated, surprised. "Why is she here?"

Violet shrugged and passed the bottle to James who took a particularly large swig, avoiding Lily's gaze. "Marlene just asked if she could come and I didn't see a reason to say no. I'll just run up and get them."

Once out of sight of Lily and the boys, she breathed a heavy sigh of relief. When Sirius parted the day before, he left on relatively uncertain terms, even though they had forgiven each other in words. The uncertainty scared her and left her feeling insecure. But she pushed such thoughts aside and darted up the stairs and into her bedroom, where _Please Please Me_ was playing on the record player and Marlene was laughingly applying mascara to Amber's eyelashes.

"Everyone's here," Violet announced. "We're ready to go if you are."

"We're done!" Marlene straightened and screwed the mascara cap back on.

"Wow, Amber!" Violet exclaimed as Marlene moved away. "You always look great but tonight you're looking … particularly great." Amber's chestnut coloured hair was falling like a silk curtain down her back nearly to her waist and her olive skin had acquired a tan so brilliant that she was positively glowing. She wore a short red dress and black high heels that made her legs go on for ages. "I should warn you though – high heels and sand won't mesh well."

"Oh yeah!" Marlene exclaimed, looking down at her own blue heels. "Damn."

"Just go barefoot," Violet suggested to both of them. "I always do around here. And you're both apparating home anyway, aren't you?" The two nodded and Marlene said she was staying over at Amber's house. "Well you should be alright then! Come on! I want to get going!"

* * *

"Amber looks really gorgeous tonight, doesn't she Remus?" Violet said, sliding up to him as they walked along the main beach to the party.

Remus looked back to the Filipino girl walking beside Marlene, Lily and Peter. "She does. You all look great," he said.

Violet rolled her eyes. "Yeah, alright." She had barely made an effort, wearing no shoes and short, loose high waisted shorts with a white Sex Pistols singlet – basically what she wore every day during the summer. The only difference was her long hair was more tousled than usual. "Amber in _particular_ is looking gorgeous tonight, isn't she?"

Remus eyed her. "What are you up too?"

Violet widened her blue eyes innocently, making her look positively angelic. "I don't know what mean." Remus frowned at her and Violet sighed. "Fine. Marlene has Robbie and James has Lily – sort of – and I have Sirius – I think – and I believe that you and Amber would be positively adorable together."

"Oh, is that all," Remus said before doing a double take. "What do you mean you _think_ you have Sirius? _Think_? What does that mean?"

"Oh, it's nothing really," Violet replied, looking down. "When he left me yesterday afternoon things were just … because we'd had this fight-"

"Ah. So maybe that's why he seemed so nervous about coming here tonight," Remus said.

"He was nervous?" Violet asked. "Why?"

Remus shrugged. "You'd probably know better than me. If you left things rocky yesterday, I'd try to steady them though. You haven't talked to him about it since we got here, have you?"

"No," Violet bit her hip. "I probably should. I don't want our first real fight to ruin everything."

Remus smiled at her kindly. "I'd expect not. Just talk to him sometime tonight and it will all blow over."

Violet returned his smile, feeling some anxiety leave her. "I will." She glanced back to where Sirius was walking with James, between them carrying the bottle of vodka, and three six packs of beer (the marauders had brought two of them) before she realised that Remus had evaded her queries about Amber and he had slide away to talk to Peter and Lily.

She watched him open mouthed for a second before coming to her senses. "What a bastard," she breathed, smirking. She would have gone and given him a piece of her mind, but as they rounded a corner on the small, rocky cliff face, the party came into sight.

* * *

"Everyone's apparating home tonight, aren't they?" Lily asked Violet as Violet down a shot.

"Yes," Violet told her. "Stop worrying. Here, have a beer." She grabbed one from a stack in the sand and shoved it into her hands as Lily rolled her eyes. "Enjoy yourself. Make love and peace with James. Emphasis on the love. I need to find Sirius."

Leaving Lily spluttering by the stack of drinks, Violet walked towards the bonfire and into the crowd of people surrounding it, spying Sirius speaking quickly to Peter around the other side. She darted past people, many of whom she recognised from last summer and grabbed his arm.

"Sirius," she said, "I want to talk to you."

Sirius didn't even glance back at Peter. "Sure," and went with her towards to sea, away from the fire.

Once separate from the gathering and out of the light from the fire, Violet turned to him and said bluntly, "I've been meaning to talk to you all night. We're still okay, right?"

Sirius' mouth dropped open in surprise before he recovered. "Of course we are," he exclaimed. "What gave you the idea that we weren't?"

Violet crossed her arms over her stomach uncomfortably and fiddled with the cap of the bottle she was holding. "It's just, yesterday when you left it felt like I'd pushed you too far-"

"Vi, you don't have to worry about me leaving," Sirius told her. "Really."

"Then why didn't you-"

Sirius pulled her into a kiss, cutting her off and pressing her against him and Violet felt all the tension leave her body. No one could fake a kiss like that. "Stop worrying," he told her, pressing his forehead against hers. "Okay?"

Violet's heart was in her throat. "Okay," she agreed. Sirius brushed her lips with his, gentler this time, and she bit his bottom lip lightly, laughing softly as relief hit her. Sirius glanced at her in surprise and she peered up at him from under her lashes.

Sirius watched at her face searchingly, a sly smile growing on his face. "I have to get back to Wormtail."

"Oh." Violet pursued her lips. "Find me later then."

"I will," Sirius promised, before heading back into the crowd.

* * *

About an hour later, Violet heard someone said her name and she recognised the voice, even in her relatively intoxicated state. "Will!" she grinned as she hugged him. She tried to take a wobbly step back, but Will's hand's were on her waist holding her in place.

"It's been a while," Will grinned down at her. "How was your year."

"Very good," Violet told him, elongating the word 'very'. Unaware of the implications of their closeness, she rested one hand on his forearm. "And how've you been since last summer?"

"Well enough," he replied. "I definitely missed you though."

Violet laughed. "I bet you did. Have you gotten something to drink?" He responded that he hadn't so Violet gripped his arm and pulled him towards the table set up on the sand, saying, "Let's get you one then."

"Wait, Vi," Will said, stopping her in the middle of the crowd. "I haven't seen you in a year. Don't you want to go off alone to do something?"

Violet swallowed. "Like what?"

Will scoffed, taking her bottle and having a sip before handing it back to her. "Come on. You know what. You definitely weren't this clueless last year."

Violet pursued her lips and took the bottle back. "You can get your own drink," she said, turning away.

"No, no, no, hey!" Will said, grabbing her and pulling her back. "What's happened?"

"What did you think would happen, Will?" Violet asked. "We'd come back from school and get right back to what we were doing last summer?"

Will blinked. "We did have fun, didn't we?"

"Yes," Violet admitted. "But I've gotten over the funk I was in and I moved on. I don't want to be your regular shag anymore. Sorry."

Will stared at her. "You think you can just make that decision for both of us?"

"Well, it is my body - so yes, I can make that decision," Violet told him, irritated. "You'll find some one else. You're good looking enough." She waited for him to answer and her head began spinning, not helped by their close proximity to the fire and the crowd around them. When he just stood there and ground his teeth, Violet rolled her eyes and tried to leave again.

Violet, due to her intoxicated state, didn't really know how far she got before she felt hands grab hers and Will's lips and tongue pressing violently against her own. She twisted and pushed him away, spluttering and wiping her lips looking horrified. "What the_ FUCK_ was that?" she yelled angrily.

"Oh, come on, Vi." Will made to grab her again but Violet clumsily threw her nearly empty bottle at him and it distracted him for tiny a moment, which allowed her to slip through the crowd and leave him behind.

* * *

Sirius took a long drag of his cigarette, watching Lily and James talking quietly away from the crowd around the fire. Peter was at the edge of the crowd talking to some muggle girls, who were clearly too good looking for him, and Remus and Amber had gone off somewhere. Marlene was talking amicably to Ben and another boy, who was making them both crowns out of beach grass.

Sirius, sitting alone in the dark with only a cigarette and an empty bottle of beer, felt an odd sense of peace come over him as he observed everyone enjoying themselves. The muggle world was relatively stable and it was a relief to get away from the Daily Prophet's ominous headlines every morning. They'd made a good choice in coming.

Suddenly, Sirius saw Violet's small figure break through the wall of bodies, stumbling a little and he was up in an instant, putting out the cigarette and leaving it and the bottle behind, forgotten. "Vi, are you okay?" he asked, reaching out and grabbing her arm.

She jumped and made to pull her arm away, but realising it was him, she exhaled heavily in relief and nodded shakily. "I'm fine, Sirius," she said, leaning onto him a little. She was swaying slightly.

"What's happened?" Sirius asked anxiously, not liking the unsettled look Violet had in her eye.

"It doesn't matter-"

"Violet," Sirius barked. "Cut the bullshit and tell me what happened."

Violet's eyes looked bigger then normal and much darker against the paleness of her face. "I just saw Will again and ... I ... he ..." she trailed off, her eyes darting around to avoid looking directly at Sirius.

"Who's Will?" Sirius asked, confused.

"He's the guy from last summer. You know the one who I ... you know?"

"Oh." Sirius paused for a second, reflecting bitterly for a moment before coming to his senses. "What about him?"

Violet stood awkwardly for a moment before deciding that it would be best to just get this out of the way. "He ... kissed me." She watched for Sirius' reaction searchingly. "I told him that I didn't want to ... start our thing again and he thought ... I don't know what he thought but I tried to leave and he just grabbed me and-" she broke off, realising Sirius hadn't moved. "Sirius, I promise I didn't-"

"I know," Sirius said bluntly. "I know you didn't. You wouldn't. Where is he?"

"He's over - wait, why?" He was being far too calm and it struck a chord.

Sirius stared at her evenly. "Where is he, Vi?"

Violet swallowed and looked around for him. "He's walking over to get a drink. The one wearing the loose grey singlet."

Sirius caught sight of him and said, "Right." before letting go of Violet and storming over to him. Will had just reached the drinks when Sirius pushed him away from the stack. "It's Will, right?"

Will stared at him, a slight sneer on his face. "Who are you?"

"I'm Sirius. Sirius Black," Sirius said. Violet was frozen to the spot where Sirius had left her, watching wide eyed. She knew she should step in and stop him, but ... part of her really wanted Will to be punched in the face.

"Is that supposed to mean something to me?" Will scoffed.

"It should," Sirius replied, offhandedly. "I'm Violet's boyfriend."

And then he punched Will in the jaw.

Violet's mouth dropped open as Will fell back, catching himself before he really hit the sand. Sirius unconcernedly stared down at Will as he stumbled back up, clutching his jaw. In the light, Violet couldn't see how bad it was but it didn't matter. Will was glaring at Sirius with such a fierce anger that she nearly pulled out her wand. But Sirius merely said, with a dark look in his eye that made him seem much more dangerous then the average charming 'bad boy', "If you touch her again when she doesn't want you to and you'll find there are much worse things I can do." With that he turned and came back to her. "Do you want to get out of here?"

Violet glanced back at Will, who was still clinging to his jaw and watching the two of them furiously. He caught her gaze and turned away, as Violet said, "Yes. Can we?"

Sirius nodded, took her hand and waved Marlene and Ben over. Violet realised with a jolt that they had seen the altercation. "We're going to get going," Sirius told Marlene. "You guys will get home alright, right?"

Marlene's eyes flicked worriedly to Violet and back again. "Of course. And I'll make sure Pete has a way home."

Ben frowned. "Wait, aren't you guys coming from all over the country?"

"They're staying in a hotel," Violet said, quickly covering for Marlene and Sirius who had frozen momentarily. "That's what she meant."

With Ben looking satisfied with the explanation, Violet and Sirius left for Violet's house.

* * *

"Wow," Violet said, catching sight of herself in the mirror of her room. "I look awful."

"You don't," Sirius told her, dropping Violet's keys on her shelf.

"Now I know why you didn't believe me when I told you I was okay back there," Violet said, ignoring him.

Sirius came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his head against her shoulder. "If I hadn't asked, what would you have done?"

"I'd probably have come home," Violet said, after a moment. "I'd have said I'd had enough for the night and left. Or I would have just stayed close to you or Marlene all night."

"You don't have to do things on your own," Sirius told her. "I can't really know what it was like for you after your mum left and I don't know much about your life in France, but here you have friends who would do anything for you."

Violet eyes pricked. "Thanks. And thanks for punching Will in the face too," she added in as an afterthought, snickering.

Sirius chortled. "No problem." He kissed her cheek lightly, than moved slowly down to her jaw, then her neck and then her collarbone. Violet turned her face inwards and kissed him, turning her body to face him and sliding her hands underneath his shirt, running her fingers over the smooth planes of skin, before moving to pull it off.

Sirius shifted to let it be pulled over his head and pulled her closer. Violet's hands drifted to the button and zipper on his jeans. Sirius grabbed her wrist. "What are you doing?"

Violet gave him a look. "What do you think?" she murmured, kissing down his neck. Sirius stood unresponsive for a moment, his hands resting heavily on her waist. "Do I have to undress us both by myself?" Violet asked, resting her head against his shoulder.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Sirius asked.

"Yes. Don't you want too?"

"Of course I do, but after tonight-"

"Sirius, stop talking," Violet said mildly.

"But-"

Violet broke him off, kissing him roughly, intertwining her fingers in his hair. Sirius stopped talking.

* * *

**And that's where I'm leaving it. Sorry this has taken a little longer then usual. The internet was being screwy and life's been demanding in times of late.  
****Reviews are much appreciated!  
****The usual "thank you's" apply. xx**

**I also hope you can kind of understand why Violet's feeling so insecure about her relationships - with her situation with mother and her father unintentionally neglecting her and all. Also, keep in mind for the _much_ later chapters how much she has come to detest loneliness because that will contribute to how she deals with the canon aspects of the story of the Marauders. I hope you know what parts I'm talking about. I really don't want to spell it out because it makes me sad.  
****Until next time! **


	17. Chapter 17

Violet looked around at the soft sunlight filtering into her room. Through the curtains, she could see a line of dark blue – the sea – peeking out from behind the dense green foliage. An arm was draped over her waist and she could feel soft, warm breath on the back of her neck. Despite a slight headache, she was feeling pretty damn good.

"Are you awake?" Sirius asked quietly, from behind her.

"Mm hm. How'd you know?" Violet asked, turning over under the sheets to rest her head against his shoulder.

"You just shifted," Sirius told her, lifting a hand to play with her hair, thinking over the events of last night. "You don't ... regret this, do you?"

"Why would I regret it?" Violet asked incredulously.

"I just meant … you didn't do it because Will came onto you or anything, right?" Sirius asked uncertainly.

"No," Violet said shortly. "I've been thinking about it for ages and this was the first chance we'd gotten so I just …" she trailed off.

"Oh. I just wanted to be sure," Sirius said, his arm wrapping arm her more tightly.

Violet wrapped a leg around one of his, drawing comfort from the skin on skin contact. "Well you can be." She stretched up and little and kissed him and the longing between both of them grew as Violet moved to hover over the top of Sirius. Both of them stopped abruptly when a door downstairs slammed.

"I think that was the front door. It must be my Dad because I definitely locked it last night," Violet whispered. "Merde." She slid away from Sirius and off the bed, pulling on some discarded clothes and throwing Sirius' clothes at him. "Put those on and stay quiet up here," she told him.

Throwing her hair up in a bun, she darted out of the room and down the stairs, to see her father rummaging through the fridge. "Hi dad," she greeted him.

He turned to her and smiled half heartedly. "Hi. Is there anything to eat here?"

"There's half of a steak and kidney pie in there," Violet said, swallowing, glancing nervously to the stairwell. Her father didn't notice. "You sit at the table. I'll get it for you."

"I'm not actually very hungry," William Bryce said, shutting the fridge. "I'm going to bed before I go out again tonight." He began moving to the stairwell.

Internally, Violet was panicking. "And … I'm going to go back to my room!" Violet lied. "To clean it." She half run up the staircase and bumped into Sirius who was listening in the hallway. "Get in! Get in!" she mouthed to him, shoving him into her room and slamming the door shut.

Her father reached the landing, looked at her oddly for a second, but he evidently, in Violet's eyes, didn't care about her strange behaviour, turned the other way and entered his room at the other end of the hall. As his door shut with a snap, Violet wretched hers open and whispered, "I told you to stay in here!"

"No," Sirius protested. "You told me to stay_ up_ here. You didn't say stay in the room!"

Violet exhaled exasperatedly and rolled her eyes. "Come on," she said, taking his hand. "You have to go."

She stuck her head out the bedroom door and, as the cost was clear, pulled Sirius behind her down the stairs. Opening the front door, she pulled them into the early morning sunshine and sighed in relief.

"Thank Merlin," she muttered, resting her head on Sirius' chest.

"I don't know why you were so worried," Sirius said unconcernedly, squeezing her. "You got me out fine."

Violet glared at him. "If he caught you in the hallway I don't know what he would do! Last summer, he wasn't this ignorant and he didn't even suspect-"

"I don't really want to hear that," Sirius said mildly.

"Right. Sorry," Violet realised.

"Are you still staying with James and I for a few days starting tomorrow?" Sirius asked.

"Yes," Violet replied. "If that's still alright."

"Definitely," Sirius said, before kissing her slowly. "We'll have more time for this," he smirked.

Violet raised an eyebrow. "Oh yes. With James and his parents there as well."

"We'll work it out," Sirius said, after pausing for a moment, looking perturbed. "Do you want me to pick you up?"

"I can apparate by myself," Violet replied. "You should go. James probably doesn't know you're here and he might be worried."

Sirius snorted. "Trust me, he'll have worked out where I was." Pecking her lips again, he said, "See you tomorrow," before he walked up the path and out the gate, where he was able to apparate home.

* * *

**WEEK THREE – SUMMER**

"Hello Violet," James greeted her, opening the door with a sly smile. "How are you?"

Violet, unsettled because of the smile on James' face, replied, "I'm great, thank you. Why are you looking at me like that?"

James' face immediately changed to one of innocence. "I have no i-" he broke off at Violet's expression and grinned again. "Oh, alright. I only wanted to tell you to try to keep the hanky panky to a minimum while you're here."

He grabbed one of Violet's bags before she could say anything and darted away leaving Violet staring after him.

Sirius appeared and took Violet's other bag. "Coming in?"

"You told James then?" Violet asked, stepping over the threshold and taking in the Potter's large foyer with a wide staircase leading up to the second landing.

"He worked it out when I turned up yesterday morning in the same clothes. You're not upset about it, are you?" Sirius asked.

"No. Although, if I'm going to have to deal with hanky panky jokes every two seconds, you may have to restrain me," Violet said.

Sirius snorted. "Fair enough."

Violet followed Sirius down a hall and into a kitchen. Seated at the table was Mr and Mrs Potter, both looking over piles and piles of parchment with Mr Potter twirling a quill in between two fingers. "… so much to sign. Oh," Mr Potter looked up, catching sight of Sirius and Violet in the entrance. Mrs Potter looked around. "You must be-"

"Violet!" Mrs Potter stood and pulled Violet into a friendly hug. "This is my husband, Henry-"

"Hal," he cut in quickly.

Mrs Potter rolled her eyes to the heavens, but her lips were pointed upwards. "- and we're so happy to have you stay for a few days, my dear."

"Thank you," Violet said shyly.

"Are those the paper's for the ministry?" Sirius asked, moving around both of them to look over Mr Potter's shoulder.

"Yes." He looked back down at them again and wrote something. "They're resignation papers," he explained to Violet. "I assume you heard what happened?"

"Sirius told me," Violet nodded. "I'm sorry it's come to this."

"Don't be sorry," Hal said dismissively. "It's not your fault. I tell you though," he continued, looking at Emilia, "I'd rather another round with whatever it was if I have to sign one more paper that-"

"Don't even joke about that," Emilia said coldly, moving towards a kitchen bench.

"Who said anything about joking?' Hal continued, lightly. Emilia Potter didn't turn around and stared out the window with crossed arms. Hal stared at her and sighed. "Why don't you take Violet up to the guest room, Sirius."

"Yeah, okay," Sirius said uncomfortably, picking up Violet's bag again, grabbing her hand and pulling her out of the kitchen. Halfway up the stairs, Sirius shook his head and said quietly, "I don't think he realises just how scared she was."

"Mr Potter?" Violet clarified. Sirius nodded. "He seems a bit like James in that sense; trying to make light of a situation without actually realising how serious it is."

Sirius pondered this for a moment. "Like with Lily."

"Exactly like with Lily," Violet agreed, as Sirius opened a door on the second landing.

"About time," James said, leaping off the bed. "What took you so long?"

"We went to see your parents," Violet said, "since they're the ones who actually own the place."

James laughed. "That was harsh." Violet poked her tongue out at him and went to the window.

"You have a mini Quidditch pitch out here," Violet said, eyeing the hoops sticking up in between a cluster of trees a little way away.

Sirius groaned and fell onto the bed. "We have played Quidditch almost every day since the holidays began."

"There's a reason for that! We need to stay in shape for next year! If Gryffindor doesn't win the House Cup in my final year then I-"

"Yeah, yeah James, I get it but I want to do something different," Sirius said.

"If you want to do something different, then I have an idea for tonight," Violet said, turning away from the window and sitting on the bed beside Sirius' head and across from James. "Have you ever seen a film?"

"A filem?" Sirius perked up, sitting up quickly.

"What's that?" James asked.

"It's a muggle way of telling a story," Violet explained. "Like a play, but instead it's on a screen and not actually happening in front of you. There's one I've been dying to see for ages."

"James, I want to go," Sirius said immediately.

James shrugged. "I can ask my parents, I guess."

* * *

"Sirius, will you stop jumping around like a maniac!" Violet called as Sirius bounded ahead of her and James along the wall of movie posters to their cinema number. They had apparated to muggle London and followed Violet to the movie theatre. Once there, she went off to buy their tickets as James and Sirius went to get food.

James laughed. "I swear sometimes Sirius is …" he trailed off.

Violet looked at him curiously. "Sometimes Sirius what?"

"It doesn't matter," James said hastily. "What filem are we seeing?"

"Film," Violet corrected. "I'm going to get you two to say it right eventually. And it's called Star Wars."

"Sounds weird," James said, following Sirius into cinema four. "Wow!" he said, stopping beside him in awe, looking up at the numerous red seats going upwards.

"Yes, it's pretty cool isn't it," Violet said nervously, glancing at a few muggles seated nearby who were looking at them oddly. "Can you guys tone the awe down a little and follow me."

"Can we sit anywhere?" Sirius asked.

"No, we have allocated seats. We're in row J. Come on." They followed Violet up the stairs carrying buckets of popcorn and muggle drinks, called Coca Cola, and ended up sitting in the middle of the row.

"Okay," Violet said, once they were all seated and staring at the blank screen. "They're going to play a couple of advertisements before the actual film starts so we just have to-" A blare of sound hit them and the screen flashed and came to life. "-sit through it."

Her explanation wasn't needed because Sirius and James ignored her, already staring in fascination at an advertisement for laundry powder. She sat back and sipped her drink until the screen finally quietened and the lights dimmed.

"Is it already over?" Sirius said disappointedly.

"It hasn't even begun yet," Violet laughed. "Just wait."

_A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away …_

* * *

"That … was … _wicked_!"

"Do you reckon there's a spell that could make us those lightsaber things?"

"Do you reckon Chewbacca exists?"

"We could talk to Professor Kettleburn …"

James, Sirius and Violet exited the cinema talking rapidly about what they had just witnessed. They were still going on about it as they turned into the restaurant precinct to grab a late dinner.

"Hey, do you reckon Lily would like it?" James asked suddenly, causing Violet and Sirius to fall silent.

"Lily?" Sirius asked uncertainly. "As in … Evans?"

"Aren't you fighting with her?" Violet said hesitantly.

Immediately James' face turned pink. "We were but we … came to a compromise at Violet's friends' party."

Sirius grinned widely. "The kind of compromise that requires a date? What action sparked that?" James glared at him.

"I think Lily would love it, James," Violet said, linking arms with him. "She seems like someone who would be into that kind of thing."

James brightened and Sirius laughed at his expression. "I can't wait for the day you two finally give into each other and make it official."

"That day is coming," James replied, with quiet confidence. "And then you -" His words were cut off by a scream followed by a glass window shattering and a flash of green light.

Violet's eyes widened and she let go of James' arm. "What-"

People – muggles – began running towards them at the far end of the street, where the three of them had frozen. They saw more people – wizards - in black robes with covered faces appear on the road, throwing curses at random people.

"Death Eaters," Violet breathed, grabbing onto both Sirius and James' arms, pulling them backwards, going along with the tide of people. All three turned and ran. One Death Eater appeared in an alleyway as they passed and Sirius threw a hex at him, still running.

Suddenly the flow of the mass of people stopped moving and people began moving in all directions chaotically.

"There are more at this end of the street!" Sirius shouted to them. He grabbed Violet's hand and pulled her and James closer to him and they heard shouting and screaming and cracking and flashes of light. Violet saw a child, maybe five or six years old, screaming with a red face and tear tracks down her cheeks. A woman, who didn't look like her mother considering the child was fair haired and pale and the woman was Indian, scooped up the girl in her arms as she ran and pulled out a wand (_she must be a witch as well,_ Violet thought with a start), weaving in and out of the crowd. The simple act of a stranger looking out for an innocent girl at the risk of her own life sparked something inside of her and she pulled out her own wand. She noticed that Sirius and James had done the same.

"We trapped in this street from both sides," James shouted. "We need to break through one side so people can get out."

A blaze of bright orange whizzed past them and they simultaneously turned and shot curses in the direction it had come. One, Sirius' stupefy, hit the Death Eater right in the chest and he or she collapsed over a table in front of an Italian restaurant.

"So we need to get to one side, and force our way through it then," Violet said, struggling to hear over the noise. The three of them began moving, hurrying, through the crowd. A flutter of a black robe appeared over James' shoulder and she sent a curse towards it. In the chaos, she didn't know whether she made her mark but regardless, it disappeared.

At the end of the street, four Death Eaters stood. One laughed as they sent curse after curse into the crowd of people, some of them killing curses and some not, driving them back like cattle. On the road there were already several bodies scattered around, limbs at odd angles from falling awkwardly.

_How are we going to do this?_ Violet thought anxiously, ducking as a flash of green flew by her ear. There were four Death Eaters; full grown, adult wizards with an extensive knowledge of dark magic and then there was the three of them; basically full grown, but still, students. Her eye caught a long upturned table out the front of the restaurant.

"Here!" she exclaimed, grabbing James and pushing Sirius' back towards it. More spells flew by their heads but they ducked and managed to avoid most of them. The three of them dived behind the table and James checked to see that the restaurant behind them was empty.

Sirius knelt up and threw another stunning spell at one of the Death Eaters, ducking behind the table again. He was almost certain that it hit.

"Did they see you?" Violet asked him.

"Or the direction the spell came from?" James added.

"Not sure," Sirius replied. "They were – DEPULSO!" Sirius hurdled past them, throwing a spell at a death eater who'd appeared behind James and Violet. The full force of the spell missed but it succeeded in pushing him back far in front of the table.

"Sirius!" Violet exclaimed as he engaged the Death Eater in a fight.

"We have to focus on this, Vi!" James said. "Breaking through the street! Padfoot will be fine!"

Violet knew James was right and together they shot up from behind the table and threw spells at the Death Eaters still standing. James' stunning spell hit the one closest to them and Violet's Expulso curse hit the balcony above where one was standing. It caused a small explosion and rock and metal rained down and half buried the Death Eater.

Unfortunately their actions meant that the last Death Eater knew exactly where they were. She sent a cruciartus curse their way, missing James by a hairs breath. Violet knew it was a woman from the way she walked. It was oddly familiar. Both raised their wands to retaliate, but someone else got there first. The spell sent the Death Eater woman shooting backwards in the street so far that she disappeared from sight.

James and Violet looked around and began to realise that more duels were taking place, between the Death Eaters and -

"Auror's," James said with certainty and awe.

"Mostly," a quiet, familiar voice from behind them agreed. "But not entirely."

"Professor Dumbledore!" Violet exclaimed. "What are-"

"Just a moment, Miss Bryce," Dumbledore said, raising his wand and shooting a curse at the Death Eater Sirius was fighting. Sirius looked around in shock and backed away from the body before he spotted them. Professor Dumbledore gestured for him to come over and he did so, darting through the crowd now running desperately to the newly opened street. "The three of you need to leave," Dumbledore said, as more wizards apparated to the scene.

"But sir-" Sirius tried to protest.

"Go!" Dumbledore said sharply. "I will come to you after this is dealt with."

Sirius was fuming and James looked a little annoyed too, but Violet was pale and ready to leave. "Side along apparition," she said, taking one hand in each of hers. "Let's go. Please."

Something in her voice made them concede and they took her hands, as she got them back to the Potters' in one piece.

* * *

The first thing Violet registered when the three of them entered the Potter's house after apparating back was Mrs Potter's arms embracing the three of them at once. She sat them down in the living room as Mr Potter hurriedly left the house, having just been notified by the Ministry of the situation.

Sirius was the worst. He'd gotten knocked back into a wall by one of the spells that was thrown at him. Mrs Potter pulled out some kind of salve for him to put on his injuries. James and Violet were a little better, both just worn out.

Violet helped Sirius rubbed the salve along his spine, which he couldn't reach, as Mrs Potter left to make them some tea. Violet felt numb, her thoughts directed at the last Death Eater; the woman who seemed so familiar.

James was saying something to her and she forced herself to focus.

"Sorry?" Violet said, blinking as though she could remove her thoughts.

"You look faint. Are you alright?" James repeated. Sirius had turned to watch her.

"I'm just – I," suddenly she didn't see the point in lying. "I think I saw my mum."

Sirius' eyes widened and James frowned. "Isn't she dead?" he asked.

"Oh, right," Violet laughed shakily. "You don't know."

James' eyes glanced to Sirius and back again. "Know what?"

Violet screwed the cap onto the salve and placed it aside, sighing. He'd probably find out eventually anyway, she thought. "My mum isn't dead. I made that up. She left me and my dad last summer."

"Why?"

Violet explained to him about her mother's ideas about blood and magical superiority, the fight she'd overheard and her grandparents' death. When she was finished, Jams sat there silently contemplating what he'd just heard.

"And you knew about all this, Sirius?" James asked.

"Yeah," he said. "Vi told me after the fight we had over Christmas. Just before I broke up with Lucy."

"This doesn't change anything, does it?" Violet asked anxiously.

James turned back to Violet with an incredulous look on his face. "Of course not. I'm best mates with Sirius, aren't I? You _have_ seen his family."

Violet cracked a smile. "Very true."

"Which one was your mother?" James asked.

Violet's smile disappeared as quickly as it had come. "I think she was the last Death Eater standing at the end of the street. The one we didn't hit. Dumbledore knocked her back."

"Do you think she saw you?" James asked.

"Prongs!" Sirius glared.

"It's fine," Violet said. "She must have. Maybe she didn't recognise me … or she just didn't care."

Neither James nor Violet mentioned that the woman was looking right at them and she raised her wand anyway. The three of them fell into silence and Sirius slowly pulled his shirt back on. Mrs Potter came in carrying a tray with three mugs of tea and none of them spoke of Violet's mother again that night.

* * *

"Vi. Wake up. Violet!" Sirius's voice cut sharply into her sleep and she awoke with a start. She'd fallen asleep on the couch beside Sirius, her tea cold and mostly untouched on the small end table beside her. Looking around, she realised that Dumbledore was seated on a settee beside James, looking perfectly out of place with his long silver beard and brilliant blue robes.

"I'm glad to see the three of you are awake," Professor Dumbledore said, smiling at her.

"Sorry," Violet said sheepishly. "What time is it?"

"Just after five in the morning," Dumbledore replied cheerily. "I would have arrived sooner but the death eaters made quite a mess in London."

"That's one way of putting it," James muttered.

"How many people died, sir?" Sirius asked.

Immediately Dumbledore's eyes lost their twinkle and he regarded the three of them for a moment. "Usually, I would try to protect students from this sort of thing. But after the danger you all faced tonight, I believe you can handle it." Sirius, James and Violet waited with bated breath. "Twelve muggles were killed, as were two wizards – both death eaters. There are also several victims, magical and non-magical, with extensive injuries in St Mungo's, so the death toll may yet rise."

Violet sat back in the couch and stared resolutely at the table. Neither James nor Sirius spoke or moved.

Dumbledore let them have a moment before he spoke again. "The three of you acted with bravery and valor tonight. I want you to remember that." None of them acknowledged his words so he continued, his voice slightly harder. "I also want you to remember that you cannot save everyone. You did a great service and many owe their lives to you and the others who fought."

Mrs Potter entered, wearing a red velvet dressing gown with another mug of tea. Dumbledore smiled and thanked her and she left the room once again, giving them privacy.

Violet waited until she left before speaking up. "What happened after we left?"

"Ah," Dumbledore said, taking a moment to sip from his mug. "After you left, it was all very quick. More ministry officials arrived; some to round up the remaining Death Eaters and others to modify memories. As we speak, they're still trying to find muggles who escaped to ensure that they have no memory of the incident. Most of the death eaters evaded capture, but several did not – including the two that you, Miss Bryce, and Mr Potter targeted." Violet desperately wanted to ask about her mother but held her tongue. Dumbledore realised that she was holding something in and asked, "Is there something more, Miss Bryce?"

Violet mind whirled. To say something or not too? "There was … a girl," she said eventually, thinking she might as well ask about the child she saw last night, while she had Dumbledore's attention. "A little blonde girl who was picked up by another woman – a witch. I was just wondering what happened to her." She ignored the confused stares from James and Sirius.

Dumbledore's eyes were piercing but he answered her regardless. "The child is unharmed, as are her parents. The woman who picked her up and ensured her safety was an auror, who was on the street purely by coincidence. She returned the child to them in the chaos and they managed to escape."

"And is the woman ok?" Violet asked.

"She is currently in St Mungo's after being subjected to the cruciatus curse," Dumbledore replied evenly. "Her name's Parvana Patil. You may know her son, Naveen."

"We do," Sirius said hollowly. "He's in our Divination class, although neither of us have really spoken to him." He exchanged a glance with Violet and could see she too was reflecting on the times they had laughed about his obsession with the subject behind his back. They weren't laughing now.

"It is likely she will make a full recovery," Dumbledore said after a moment. "However, sometimes one must hope for the best, but expect the worst."

"Sir," James asked suddenly. "Last night you said something about there being others – not just Aurors – who were fighting. If they weren't Aurors, who were they?"

Dumbledore turned in his seat to gaze at James, who faltered slightly under his stare. "Very perceptive," he murmured, before raising his voice slightly. "There is a … group."

The three of them waited for him to continue but he did not. "And?" Sirius asked eagerly.

Dumbledore smiled slightly, and rose from his place. "I believe I've said enough. Mrs Potter," he inclined his head to her, as she appeared in the entrance way. "Thank you for the tea and hospitality. Your boys and Miss Bryce did very well tonight."

Mrs Potter escorted him and the three of them sat staring after him, James and Sirius looking almost insulted that they were not invited to join Professor Dumbledore's group. Violet was amused by their expressions but wanted nothing more than to sleep.

"I'm heading to bed," she announced, standing up. Both James and Sirius stood immediately, and followed her up the stairs and to her room.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Sirius asked.

Violet nodded. "I'll be fine once I sleep some more."

The two boys left her and she slid out of her clothes, leaving them in a pile on the floor. Too exhausted to even pull out pyjamas, she slid under the covers and lay staring at the faint sunrise, beginning to filter through the window.

She must have drifted off because the next thing she knew, she was being woken by Sirius sliding into bed beside her, wrapping his arms around her from behind.

"You don't mind, do you?" he asked.

Violet shook her head in answer and drifted off once again.

* * *

Mr Potter had chosen to work mostly from home so ministry workers were in and out of the Potter house for the next couple of days. Violet, James and Sirius spent most of the time outside to avoid them but sometimes it was inevitable.

One afternoon, for lunch, the three of them came in from playing Quidditch out on the field. They found Mr Potter was seated at the table by a man with a neat handlebar moustache, wearing an air of extreme formality and a suit that looked far too hot for summer.

"This is Barty Crouch," Mr Potter introduced to them, as they sat down at the table with the sandwiches that had been left out for them on the table. "He's going to be my successor at ministry at the end of this month."

"You're all still in Hogwarts?" Barty Crouch asked them, as they tried to eat their sandwiches in a way that was both polite and tidy. "My son is there too. He's a few years younger than you so it's likely you don't know him."

"What's his name?" Violet asked, the politest of the three.

"Barty Crouch Jr," Barty Crouch said.

"Oh." Sirius and James held back sniggers as Violet tried to think of something more to say. "I can't say I know him, sorry. I don't know many people outside of my own year though. I've only been at Hogwarts a short while. You should ask these two." She stamped on Sirius' foot and kicked James in the shins and both of them fought to control violent outbursts.

"Nope, don't know him."

"Can't say we've met."

When they left the room, James pushed Violet in the arm. "Thanks a ton for that, Vi."

"Oi," Sirius said, wrapping an arm around Violet. "Don't hit my bird!"

James opened his mouth in mock horror. "You're choosing her over me? Merlin, Padfoot. I never thought it would come to this."

"Oh shut up, you prat."

* * *

Violet awoke with a feeling of extreme sadness on her last day at the Potter's. She never wanted to leave, even if she missed her dad. Although, she knew going home wouldn't really rectify that.

Her door opened suddenly and Sirius bounded in, jumping into bed with her.

"Good morning, lover," he said to her, as she turned to face him.

"_Good_ morning? _Lover_?" Violet said incredulously. "What are we doing and why do you think I'll object to it?"

Sirius barked a laugh. "Well, it depends. How do you feel about motorbikes?"

* * *

"I have to admit," Violet told Sirius as they waited for the motorcycle dealer to come back with the papers for Sirius' new bike. "I do feel a lot cooler now that I can say my boyfriend owns a motorbike."

Sirius grinned at her. "I've been planning to get one ever since I left my folks last year. They'd never have let me get it."

"Can you even ride it?" Violet asked.

"I took a few lessons last summer, but didn't end up finishing the course. So let's say yes," Sirius replied casually.

"Well he's going to ask to see a license or something," Violet told him, referring to the salesman coming out of the office now.

"That's where I was hoping you would come in," Sirius said, his grin faltering as Violet raised an eyebrow.

"Come in with what?" she asked slowly.

"A confundus charm," Sirius smiled winningly at her as the salesman approached.

Violet stood there for a moment, watching Sirius open mouthed as they discussed the papers and the man handed over a pen, showing Sirius where to sign.

"I'll also need to see a license," he was saying as Sirius looked through the paperwork. Sirius glanced back at her and gave her a pleading look. She rolled her eyes and went around them, under the guise of looking at the bikes on display.

Making sure she was out of view of the security camera, she pulled out her wand and pointed at the man's back. "Confundus," she murmured and when the spell hit him, he slouched and shook his head several times, as if trying to clear it.

"Everything seems to be in order," he was saying, ruffling through the pages before piling them together. "Now I take … do I take this?"

"Yes," Sirius said quickly, taking the stack of him and quickly sorting it into two piles. "You take that one."

"Right you are," the man pulled out the key to the motorbike and handed it to Violet, who had drifted back over. "Enjoy your car." He turned and the two of them watched as he bumbled up the stairs.

"It'll wear off in an hour," Violet said guiltily, as they watched him toodle back up to his office.

* * *

"Having you stay was a pleasure, dear," Mrs Potter said to her. "I hope you'll visit again sometime before school goes back."

"I'll definitely try too," Violet replied. "Especially when the only company you have is these two," she indicated to James and Sirius standing behind her.

"I'm not sure if we want you back after that remark, Vi," James sniffed as Sirius laughed. He and Violet had apparated with the motorbike back to the Potter's and it was now resting in their broom shed, waiting for Sirius to finish charming it. While in there, he and Violet had said their own very _private_ good byes before reappearing at the house again for Violet to get ready to leave.

"I'm not sure it matters, James, seeing as it's your parents' house and not yours," Violet retorted and Mrs Potter chuckled. "Anyway. I really better get going. I've been away from my dad and the house long enough."

"Of course." With a final hug, Mrs Potter bid her good bye and went back into the house.

Violet hugged James next. "If you two want to visit tomorrow I'll be there, but after that, I'm going to stay with Lily for a few days. And yes, James, I will ask her if you can visit one of these days too."

"Excellent," James grinned.

When she faced Sirius, he looked sadder then before. "Stay safe, aright?" Sirius asked.

"I will," Violet answered, kissing him lightly.

"No I mean it. Between that bloody Will bloke and your mother and the other Death Eaters-"

"I_ will,_" Violet repeated insistently. "I won't go anywhere without my wand and I won't go too far from home."

"You're there alone though," Sirius said, lowering his voice so James, standing under the eaves couldn't hear. "What if something happens and no one knows?"

Violet had thought the exact same thing about her father but she didn't want Sirius to know that and worry about her. "I'll be fine. But if you want, you can come visit me every couple of days to check. Maybe even every day if you really want too."

Sirius didn't look like he exactly liked this idea, but he let it go regardless. "I'll see you later then," he said, running a hand through her hair and pulling her in to kiss her more deeply then she did before._ Might as well give her something to remember for a few days_, he thought. It was only when James coughed exaggeratedly did they break apart and Violet, with a small smile turned and walked to the gate.

With a final wave, she disapparated away and she was gone.

* * *

**And that's the end of that chapter! Writing Dumbledore - who's become such an iconic character - was a bit difficult and I hope I wrote him in a way that people liked or at least recognised somewhat. Also, thanks again for the reviews, follows and favourites! **

**In the next chapter, Severus Snape is going to pop up - and it's going to be for much longer then he has so far, so I'm pretty excited for that.  
Until next time! **


	18. Chapter 18

**WEEK THREE - SUMMER**

Before Violet left for Lily's she cracked open the door to her father's room. It was empty and the curtains were drawn tightly shut. The bed was unmade and there was a faint, but unmistakable smell of beer wafting in the air. He must have left for 'work' again.

Unsurprisingly, when she had arrived home after staying at the Potters' for nearly a week, he wasn't there either. When he appeared a couple of hours later, he'd said he just thought she was always out of the house or in her room.

Violet didn't have the heart to correct him, nor did she tell him of her plans to stay with Lily._ It's not like he'd notice anyway,_ she thought bitterly. It was for that reason she decided to leave for Lily's earlier than planned. Leaving the house, beautiful though it was, brought her a sense of relief. The empty house had become a constant reminder of what her life and family had been reduced too.

With a crack, Violet arrived in a quiet street lined with quaint little houses. The sky was a sharp crystalline blue and it perfectly suited the neighbourhoods atmosphere of normality. Violet had apparated directly across the road from Lily's house at the end of the street – number thirty-six – and beside it was a large park, the grass yellowing from the heat, with a small playground and swing set. As Violet would have expected, there were no children around, in the playground or on the street; it was particularly hot that day and to subject any child to the humidity of the air could probably be considered a form of extreme punishment.

Eager to escape direct sunlight, Violet crossed the road, carrying her bag over one shoulder, opened the little wooden gate and made her way to the shade of the porch. It was mildly better in the shade but there was no real relief offered. Violet knocked on the door and waited.

And waited.

Frowning a little, she knocked again and tried looking into a window, but the curtains were shut. Violet sighed. She should have known better than to arrive early and expect Lily to be here. Now she was stuck outside with nothing to do – she certainly wasn't going to go home.

She eyed the swings on the hill in the park by Lily's house. They were somewhat shaded by tall trees and the seats were wooden, not metal like the slide and other play equipment. Not wanting to just stand around waiting for Lily and her family to come home, Violet left her bag on the porch and made her way up to them, squinting in the harsh sun. She sat down, kicked her legs and began a swinging up and down. After a moment she was high enough to be able to see all the way down Lily's street and the other streets connected to the park on the hill. The houses were lined up in neat little rows with even, square back gardens, though some were quiet shabbier then others. The west side, for instance, seemed particularly downtrodden. However, on all sides of the park, it was quiet, with everyone seemingly uniting against the heat and staying inside.

After a moment, however, a quick moving shadow caught her eye in the stillness – right in Lily's backyard.

Violet skidded to a halt, staring intently. Again, something moved. The figure was dark, slight and quick and Violet stood abruptly. She half ran down the hill and jumped over the brick wall surrounding the Evans' garden, nearly falling flat on her face.

As soon as she was down, the figure jumped back in fright, knocking over the dustbins and causing a horrible clashing noise and a cat, which must have been skulking about the house as well, to yelp and dart away.

Immediately Violet recognised the figure. Severus Snape.

He was gripping his wand and glaring at her so fiercely that she nearly recoiled. There was solid silence between them as they stared at each other, taking in the others appearance. Severus was dressed all in black, the clothes limply hanging off his frame. His hair was uncut and greasy and his nose was as hooked as ever. Violet was quite the opposite. Her hair was golden and shiny and her features were as delicate and elfin looking as ever. Her clothes were daringly short but, as usual, simple; just plain shorts and a shirt.

Still surveying Severus cautiously, Violet asked slowly, "What are you doing in Lily Evans' backyard?"

Severus, still glaring, replied coldly, "Visiting."

"I thought that you two didn't talk anymore," Violet said, cocking her head slightly.

Severus winced, as if he'd been slapped. "What do you know?" he asked aggressively.

Violet raised her eyebrows but kept her voice steady. "That's just what she told me."

Severus struggled to find something to say to her, standing above him and looking perfectly, irritatingly angelic (if a little sweaty). He opened and closed his mouth, feeling like a fool, before she took pity on him.

"Do you live nearby?" Violet asked.

"Why should I bloody well tell you? You're Black's girlfriend, aren't you? You'll probably send him to my house and-"

"You don't really think that, do you?" Violet asked angrily, flaring up at his words. "And besides, Sirius hasn't done anything to you!"

Severus scoffed. "You've only known him for a year," Severus picked himself up from amongst the dustbins, which had been mostly empty, and dusted himself off. "Since the first ride on the Hogwarts Express, Black's been an arrogant, cocky bastard who nearly got me_ killed_!"

Violet frowned skeptically. "When did he nearly get you killed?"

Severus paused momentarily. "You're Lupin's friend aren't you? I assume you know?" Violet knew immediately what he was insinuating and she nodded quickly. "You _boyfriend_," he sneered, as though in disgust, "_Black_ sent me to him … on the full moon."

_Oh_. Violet shifted uncomfortably. "I did hear about that."

"And you're still with him," Severus grimaced bitterly. "That says a lot about you, doesn't it?"

Violet glared. "He said he wasn't thinking straight because he was angry and it was an accident. And besides, people are always changing – you can't expect a someone to be the same person they were as life moves along."

"_Accident_!" He scoffed. "Besides, nobody changes that much," Severus muttered.

Violet clenched her jaw. "If you truly believe that, then I suppose you're the same person you were when you called Lily a mudblood that day in fifth year."

Severus visibly paled and replied quickly, without really thinking. "That _was_ an accident."

"Was it?" Violet asked coldly. "According to you, those don't happen." The two of them stared each other down, both of them with looks that could kill. "What are you doing here, Severus? Really?"

Severus shuffled back and forth. "I wanted to talk to Lily. And I know she doesn't want to talk to me," he said quickly. "But I had to try."

Despite herself, Violet felt a small surge of pity for him. "I can … try to talk to Lily while I'm staying with her. Perhaps I can convince her to speak to you."

Severus' head snapped around. "Why would you do that for me?"

Violet bit her lip. "You should get a proper chance to makes amends. And besides, I_ have_ just spent all this time lecturing you on how people can change."

Severus looked at her as though she held all the answers in the world. "Do you … would you really do this for me?"

Violet hesitated, wondering what she was getting herself into. "Of course."

Severus continued watching at her, pondering her words. "Thank you," he muttered.

Violet nodded slowly. "You should probably go now. I don't think Lily would take very kindly to you skulking around her house."

With one last glance at her, Severus backed away to the back gate and, with surprising agility, jumped over it and was gone.

* * *

"I can't believe you were there! And I can't believe that your own mother would …" Lily trailed off, staring at Violet wide-eyed. They were seated on Lily's bed and the topic of the attack in London had popped up fairly quickly. Violet had relayed to Lily her own version of events on the night and filled her in on her mothers' status as a Death Eater.

Violet shrugged. "I was pretty lucky to be with James and Sirius," she said. "I don't know how we would have gotten out of there if we were on our own."

Lily nodded slightly, a thoughtful crease appearing between her eyebrows. "James is okay too, right? And Sirius?"

"They're fine," Violet answered, as a thought occurred to her. "What happened with you and James at the party we went too? Both of you seemed to have gotten over that tiff you had before the holidays started, but James wouldn't tell me or Sirius what actually happened."

Lily avoided her eyes and picked at the light blue embroidery on her bedspread and shrugged.

Violet sat up straighter and brought her legs underneath her to lean forward. "Lily Evans, why are you avoiding the question?"

Lily pursued her lips. "I'm not avoiding the question!"

"Then answer it properly!" Violet laughed.

Lily huffed and rolled her eyes. "You're not going to let it go, are you." It wasn't spoken as a question, but a statement. Regardless, Violet shook her head, her face expectant. "Fine. He apologised for always pushing me around and making me feel uncomfortable in front of people. And not just for this year – he said he was talking about ever since he started back in … oh, what was it? Third year? Second?" Her eyes glazed over for a moment, thinking, but then she shook her head and continued. "Anyway, I accepted it because he did seem truly sincere." She looked at Violet, biting her lip worryingly. "I hope he actually was and wasn't just making fun of me again."

"He was," Violet assured her quickly. "You didn't see how upset he had been those last couple of weeks of term when neither of you could stand to be within ten feet of each other.

Lily laughed nervously. "Right. Well, we just went for a walk along the beach and he … well, he …"

"Yes…" Violet urged. "He what?"

"He said that even though he was sorry for making me – and him too, I suppose – look like an idiot whenever he confessed his apparent 'undying love' for me in the hallways in earshot of everyone," she rolled her eyes, "he really did mean it," Lily finished quietly, a light flush appearing on her cheeks. "And then he kissed me."

Violet's eyes widened. "And then?"

Lily squirmed uncomfortably. "Don't tell anyone, okay?" Violet nodded and Lily continued. "I … asked him why."

"You asked … why?" Violet asked incredulously, suppressing a laugh that was bubbling up inside her. "Lily, when a boy confesses his love for you and then kisses you, asking why probably isn't the first thing you should do."

Lily glared at her. "Oh, come on. Give me a break! The boy has apparently had a crush on me since I was eleven! As if you wouldn't be the least bit curious as to why he chose you, of all people, and not … oh, I don't know - Marlene! Or someone equally as gorgeous?"

Violet ignored her and refocused back on what was important. "Well what did he say to that?" Lily blushed and looked down again, and Violet immediately noticed. "Lily, let's just skip all the bashfulness. Tell me what he said! I can tell it's going to be good because you're looking like that!"

"I'm going to sound … stuck up or something-"

"Tell me!"

Lily sighed at her heavily, but gave in. "First of all, he was sort of ... put off that I even asked, but then he said it was because I always saw right through him and because I had the guts to stand up for Sni – I mean Severus – the first time we ever met on the train, even though I was muggleborn and probably had no idea of what could happen." She paused momentarily. "And then he said it helped that I was kind of beautiful. But let's ignore that," she added in quickly.

Violet laughed but did as she asked. "So are you two together now? Official, or whatever?"

"No," Lily replied quickly, shaking her head.

"Are you going to be?"

"I …" Lily bit her lip again. "I'm open to the idea," she finally said.

Violet beamed, thinking of how ecstatic James would be when she finally gave in. "Brilliant. I think we should invite him over one of the days I'm here."

"What?" Lily nearly screeched. "Are you mad?"

"Perhaps," Violet agreed cheerfully. "But we can invite Sirius too and maybe even Remus and Peter and we can make a day out of it! We can take you all to see Star Wars! I'm sure James and Sirius want to see it again."

Lily stared at her for a moment. "If Remus and Peter come and we go to see Star Wars, then we'll invite them."

"Excellent," Violet grinned. "Let's go tell your ma our plan."

* * *

Mrs Evans passed the plate of chicken slices to Violet, who thankfully accepted as Lily explained 'The Plan'.

"… so it will just be myself, Violet and the four boys. We'll go during the day and apparate straight back home afterwards," Lily said.

Mrs Evans frowned worriedly. "I'm just worried about you all going into London after that horrible bombing."

Violet glanced at Lily. Obviously, Lily had never informed her mother of the real circumstances of that event.

"We can just go to the cinema here in town," Lily said quickly. "The only difference will be that it has a smaller screen and less seating."

Mrs Evans thought for a second, before shrugging. "Well, I don't see why not."

"Brilliant!" Lily beamed, using Violet's word from earlier.

"Thank you so much Mrs Evans," Violet said. "And also, I really appreciate you letting me stay here."

"It's no trouble, dear," Mrs Evans smiled at her. "I love meeting Lily's friends from school. You're all very interesting."

"Oh, who else have you met?" Violet asked curiously.

"I've met Marlene several times, and a girl named Mary once-" Mrs Evans' broke off at the sound of the front door unlocking.

"Don't worry, Mum! It's just me," an unfamiliar voice called, as the door shut.

Lily shot a quick glance at Violet, who had an expression of extreme anticipation on her face. _This is it_, Violet thought, with the gist of someone about to experience spiritual enlightenment. _Petunia_.

A tall, thin girl with a long neck and neat, mousy curls gone slightly frizzy in the heat entered the dining room, tucking keys into a handbag. She was dressed in a short-sleeved, knee length cream coloured dress patterned with red flowers that flared out at the waist. She and Lily looked almost nothing alike, besides a few facial similarities. When Petunia finally looked up, her eyes darted immediately to Violet.

"Who is this?" she asked, turning to Lily next.

"Violet Bryce," Violet said, drinking in the sight of Petunia eagerly. "I'm a friend of Lily's from Hogwarts and I'm staying with here for a few days."

Immediately, Petunia's face soured and she glared. "Wonderful," she said, looking at her mother. "This is just what I need. Lily's freak friend from her freak school, right when Vernon is due to come to visit us for dinner in only a day's time."

"Petunia," Mrs Evans began.

"We won't get in your way," Lily said quickly.

"Perhaps if you told us you were coming earlier dear," Mrs Evans murmured. Violet knew from Lily's explanation earlier that Petunia had moved out a little while ago but still visited at least once a week.

"I am allowed to come and see my mother, aren't I?" Petunia asked, a bitter look still on her face. She slung her handbag over the back of the dining chair, took the seat, and pulled the plate of chicken towards her. An uncomfortable silence fell on the table as Petunia piled chicken and salad onto her plate, blatantly ignoring the other three women sat staring at her. Mrs Evans sighed heavily, picked up her plate and took it to the kitchen.

"I'm going up to lie down," she told them tiredly, exiting them room.

Lily glanced at Violet, as though asking if she, too, would like to go up to her room. Violet, in response, smiled mischievously, picked up her fork and played with a lettuce leaf on her plate.

"So who's Vernon?" Violet asked, too politely.

Petunia glanced up at her. Violet's beaming face clearly unnerved her. "He's my boyfriend," she said shortly.

"Really?" Violet continued, looking intrigued. "Is he very good looking?"

Lily snorted but covered it up with a cough.

Petunia's glare shot from Violet to Lily. "At least I have a boyfriend, Lily," she smirked. "One who has a good future and whose family runs a solid business that he'll one day take over." At her words, Lily pursued her lips.

"Oh, Lily didn't tell you?" Violet interjected, feigning surprise. "She does have a boyfriend."

"What?"

"What!"

Violet's grin returned as she gazed at the two sisters, who were frozen in shock. "Yes. His father is quite well known in our world – he's the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He's soon-to-be retired, however, but his contributions to our society will live on," Violet finished, sounding like a newsreel.

"Violet," Lily's face was stricken. "Don't-"

"And what's this boys' name?" Petunia asked skeptically.

"I'm so glad you asked, Petty. Lily and I were thinking of inviting him over while I'm here," Violet told her conversationally. "His name is James. James Potter."

Beside Violet, who was still smiling winningly, Lily sunk into her seat, looking as though she wished to sink into the floor.

* * *

"So did you like it?" James asked Lily, as they walked ahead of the others, out the cinema and down the road.

Lily shook her head, almost in a daze. "I did. I don't think I expected to like it quite so much. I can see why you and Sirius and Violet wanted to see it again."

Hope flared up in James' chest. "_We_ could go again, if you'd like. Just the-"

"Evans! Prongs!" Sirius was calling to him, waving them back.

Lily glanced over her shoulder, offered James a tentative smile and walked back to where the others stood. James huffed in annoyance – Sirius couldn't have waited two more seconds?

"… and Wormtail have to go," Sirius was saying, indicating to Peter and Remus, who had stopped talking animatedly with Violet about the film.

James turned to them, surprised. "You do? What for?"

"My mum," Peter replied, frowning. "She's afraid of all this Death Eater nonsense and doesn't want me to go out a lot. It was difficult just getting her to let me come today."

"It's the full moon tomorrow night," Remus said quietly, looking down at the pavement. "Neither of them like me to be away from home when it's getting close." They all noted he was looking rather clammy, despite the summer weather.

Immediately James' indignation left him. "Right," he said, trying to keep sympathy out of his voice. He knew Remus wouldn't thank him for that. He exchanged a glance with Sirius, who nodded. "We'll come visit you tomorrow night," James said. "Keep you company."

At his words Lily and Violet looked at him confusedly.

"You don't have too," Remus said.

"We know," Sirius said, clapping him on the back. "We want too."

Peter murmured something in agreement and Remus allowed a small, thankful smile to creep onto his face. The four of them ignored Lily and Violet's confusion and Peter and Remus ducked into an alleyway to apparate away.

James, Sirius, Lily and Violet decided to walk to the bus stop and then head back to Lily's for dinner with Petunia and her boyfriend, Vernon. Sirius was eager to have the 'muggle' experience and James figured he might as well prolong Sirius' enjoyment – he remembered how Sirius fared when he went to see his Uncle in the hospital earlier in the summer and would prefer to keep the moodiness away for as long as he could.

On the walk to the bus stop, with Sirius and James mucking around a little ways ahead of them, Lily spoke to Violet. "What did they mean about seeing Remus during the full moon? I'm assuming you know, of course."

Violet glanced at her, surprised. "I do. I didn't know you knew."

Lily laughed lightly, if a little nervously. "I found out at the very end of fifth year. Severus said a few things after our OWL exams that made me think and I just … worked it out."

"Do they know you know?" Violet asked curiously.

"Oh, yes," Lily said. "Or rather … Remus knows. I told him. But more to the point," she continued, skipping over the details, "I know he isn't dangerous when it isn't the full moon. But … when he's the werewolf, he isn't sentient, is he? He could easily attack a friend because he isn't able to perceive a difference. So how are James, Sirius and Peter going to be with him when he transforms?"

Violet opened and closed her mouth. She'd been wondering the same thing. "Perhaps they just meant … wait for him to transform back or something."

Lily gave her a skeptical look. "You know that isn't what they meant at all."

Violet shrugged uncomfortably. "I know. But I'm sure they'll be fine, Lily. Whatever they're doing … it seems they've done it before. I trust them. Don't you?" She squeezed Lily's hand tightly, comfortingly and ran to join James and Sirius at the bus stop ahead, leaving Lily to ponder the question alone for a moment.

* * *

As the four of them turned the corner onto Lily's street, Lily stopped abruptly.

"Wait," she said, and Sirius, James and Violet turned to look at her. "James, I can't let you go into this without warning you."

"What?" James looked confused.

Beside him, Violet was shaking her head vigorously and Sirius was looking between them, amused. "Vi, what have you done?"

"She's … said something to my sister," Lily began hesitantly, her green eyes not leaving James'. "She told her that you were my … my boyfriend."

Violet sighed in annoyance, pouting while James and Sirius stood frozen next to her. Sirus was the first to recover.

"Well, it's not like it wasn't going to happen anyway," Sirius said, shrugging, before turning to Violet once more. "Did you really - you were really just going to let him walk into that with no warning?"

Violet nodded, still looking unhappy that her entertainment for the night had been ruined.

"That would've brilliant," Sirius declared and Violet brightened a little at his praise.

"I mean … I can always ..." James was floundering, and Sirius regarded his usually confident – to the point of cocky – friend with amusement.

"James can pretend to be your boyfriend for tonight," Sirius told Lily, who was standing by awkwardly. "Or we can just cut to the chase and make it official."

"Let's ... see how tonight goes," Lily said after a moment. "I mean, if you wouldn't mind, James."

"I definitely … no I wouldn't mind," James said. Lily smiled gratefully and sheepishly linked arms with Violet, leading them back to her house.

Sirius stood with James, who was staring at the spot Lily had just been standing with the expression reminiscent of a concussed troll. "You alright mate?"

"Did … did Lily say that … see how tonight goes. As in ... see how tonight goes? That's what she said, wasn't it?" James turned to Sirius frantically. "She said she'd see how tonight goes when you said we should make it official."

"She did, Prongs," Sirius said seriously.

"Shit."

"Just act as you have been recently," Sirius said. "You'll be fine." He took a few steps after the girls. "Can you hurry up? I'm dying to meet Evans' sister."

* * *

"It doesn't look like mum's home yet," Lily said, unlocking the front door and letting them in. Her eye caught a piece of paper by the telephone.

_LILY & VIOLET,_

_HAVE TO WORK LATE.  
__HAVE ALREADY CALLED PETUNIA.  
__PLEASE GO TO DINNER WITH HER AND VERNON ANYWAY._

_- MUM_

Violet looked over her shoulder and read the note. "I wouldn't dream of having dinner tonight with anyone else anyway," she grinned.

Lily shot her a warning glance and allowed James and Sirius to read the note.

"Mum was planning on cooking," Lily said, biting her lip. "If we're still eating together, Petunia will probably be taking us out somewhere. I'll have to call her at work." Lily sat down on the stool by the phone, picked it up and glanced at the other three, who were watching her as curiously, as only magical folk could watch a muggle pick up an inanimate object and hold it to her ear. "It's a phone," Lily explained. "You use it to talk to other people. Violet, I would've thought you knew this, seeing you know about films and cinemas."

"Oh, I do know about phones," Violet replied. "It's just I've never actually seen one used before."

Lily blinked a few times as it became apparent that none of them were going to move. "Well, whatever you do, don't say anything," Lily said, thinking that she could at least take advantage of the situation.

* * *

Lily had spoken to Petunia on the phone, as Violet, Sirius and James watched and listened with fascination. Petunia had wanted to go to a fancy restaurant but Lily had insisted that none of them had the clothes for it, so she settled, somewhat begrudgingly, for a "second rate" restaurant that was a lot more casual.

When Petunia arrived on the doorstep of her old home, she sighed heavily, preparing for the worst, and let herself in.

"Lily?" she called, shutting the door behind her.

"I'm in the kitchen," her sister called back.

Petunia moodily walked through the sitting room and into the kitchen and – seeing a dark haired figure seated at the kitchen bench – froze.

The boy turned around. His hair was shaggy and worn longer than what was conventional. He wore loose, dark coloured shorts and his shirt was cut off at the sleeves, promoting some band that Petunia had never heard off. He was good looking too, with sharp grey eyes and a fine, if somewhat aristocratic, face – Petunia would have found him extremely attractive had he not been dressed so … so …

"Petunia, this is-" Lily began.

"This is your boyfriend?" Petunia asked incredulously. She scoffed, taking in his handsomely ragged appearance. "Is this what all boys are like at your school?"

"No actually," Lily replied, looking annoyed. "He's-"

"Pleased to meet you too," Sirius said, standing up and offering a hand, his eyes politely mocking. Petunia eyed his hand suspiciously and didn't take it, a slight sneer on her face.

"Petty," Violet said from the doorway, "don't be rude to Sirius."

"Sirius?" Petunia repeated dubiously. "That's your name? Sirius?"

"Sirius Black," he told her cheerfully. "It's lovely to meet you Petty."

"So you aren't my sister's boyfriend," Petunia said, looking at him.

"Of course not," Violet exclaimed. "He's mine!"

Petunia looked between them with this new information. This was more believable. Violet and Sirius looked more like a couple; both had natural good looks, handsome even in carelessly thought-out clothes that were stereotypical of someone rebelling against conventional society. And underneath the casual charm they projected, there was an underlying sense of something darker and harder. With Sirius it was easier to find. Violet, on the other hand, looked almost serene standing on her own, perhaps because of her shock of hair the colour of sunlight. Next to Sirius, however, there was a darkly mischievous spark in her eyes that became ever more prominent. Violet, Petunia thought, was someone who would date Sirius. Her sister knew better than to go with someone who looked like Sirius Black did, even if she was a freak.

Outwardly, Petunia sniffed and said to Lily, "Well where is he?"

"Where's who?" an unfamiliar male voice asked.

Petunia turned around and struggled to keep a look of surprise – pleasant surprise – off of her face. Violet didn't miss it and she watched Petunia amusedly. Petunia swallowed once and said, "Is this-"

"James?" Violet said. "Yes."

"Sorry to keep you waiting," James said. "I was just in the bathroom."

James, Petunia decided, looked, and therefore probably was, exciting. Sirius looked dangerous and for her it would be social suicide to date someone who wore his hair like that. James, however, had a decent haircut – even though it was windswept and a bit messy – and behind round glasses his eyes were a warm brown, or perhaps hazel, colour. He was tall, relatively well built, though a little lanky, and wearing normal looking clothes and his confidence filled the room. He would be perfect – if he wasn't apparently in love with Lily. Petunia shot a hard glare at Lily standing by the sink with a glass of water.

"It's fine," Petunia replied dismissively, turning away. "We have to leave now otherwise we'll be late."

"I just thought we'd do side along apparition," Sirius said. "We won't be late then."

Petunia didn't even think about it. "No. I don't know what that is and I don't want to know. We're going in my car or we're not going at all." She left the room and the others, all looking uncertain except for Lily, followed her out.

Petunia's car was quite small. Lily took the passenger seat in the front and Sirius was comically squeezed in the back in the middle, between James and Violet.

"Hm," he said, looking between Violet and James contemplatively as Petunia started the engine. "This reminds me of a dream I once had. The three of us were in a tiny car like this one."

Violet raised her eyebrows. "A good dream?"

"In some regards," Sirius winked at her then glanced at James who was regarding Sirius amusedly. "Not so much in others. Actually, it was quite disturbing in others, no offense Prongs."

James snorted. "None taken."

"Maybe it was a premonition," Violet piped up. "Remember we did those in divination, Sirius, and Professor-"

"If you're going to talk about those things, then you can get out and walk," Petunia said angrily.

Violet eyed the back of Petunia's head in amusement, but under the pleading eyes of Lily in the front seat, said nothing.

* * *

Vernon Dursley, Violet decided immediately, was not a nice man.

"I don't like him," Violet told Sirius quietly as they followed the others. Violet was gripping Sirius' hand tightly.

"I don't think he likes us too much either," Sirius muttered back.

"It's probably because he knows about us at all apart from the fact we're 'Lily's sort'," Violet said, referring to the fact Vernon knew of his girlfriend's sisters' magical abilities.

Sirius made a face. "When James and Lily get married, Lily's going to have him for a brother-in-law."

"You know," Violet said, watching the four of them ahead, standing around awkwardly waiting to be seated, "I have a funny feeling that she won't be seeing him much after that happens anyway."

"Because of the fact that Petunia just seems like a horrible sister?" Sirius asked.

"Yes," Violet murmured, suddenly feeling cold, anxious and almost hollow. She slid her arms around Sirius' waist. "That's probably it."

Sirius gave her an odd look. "Are you feeling alright?"

Violet looked up and smiled gently. "I'm just kind of … sad all of a sudden. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because … because I know what it's like to be isolated from your family."

"If anyone gets that, it's me," Sirius said, laughing a little.

Violet subsequently looked alarmed. "Merlin. I'm sorry. I keep forgetting your family basically kicked-"

Sirius cut her off, kissing her lightly, his lips barely brushing hers and yet somehow offering the most comfort possible. "Don't worry about it," he said to her quietly, his forehead pressing against hers. "Let's just get through this bloody dinner and then maybe we can go back to Lily's and-"

"Violet? Sirius?"

Both of them looked around, as if realising they weren't alone. Vernon Dursley, in particular was watching them with scorn, while Petunia just seemed irritated. The others look concerned.

"Vi, are you alright?" Lily asked, looking from her to Sirius.

Violet smiled convincingly. "I'm fine. Have we got a table yet?"

* * *

The dinner had been going a little shakily. No one was exactly feeling very comfortable, but they were all trying to make do.

The topic had turned to Vernon's car, which he very much enjoyed talking about. Bragging about, really. James was listening – somehow appearing interested. Violet exchanged a glance with Sirius who was looking at James skeptically, like he didn't know whether James was being serious or not.

Lily and Petunia were sitting quietly, only speaking to each other every few moments.

"… and what did you say you drove again?" Vernon asked. "Assuming you actually _can_ drive."

"Oh, well wizards don't … drive, per say. But we do have our ways!" James replied cheerily.

Vernon flinched a little at the word 'wizards', looking around nervously at the semi-crowded restaurant, but otherwise saying nothing about it. "What do you use then?"

"Brooms," James replied airily. "Absolutely the best way of transport – better than apparating in my opinion. My broomstick is probably one of the best models out right now – racing models anyway. It's the fastest and most agile and the twigs are tailor-made to enhance its ability to function during volatile wind conditions."

His words were met with blank, disbelieving stares from both Petunia and Vernon.

Sirius hid a grin, glancing at Violet out of the corner of his eye and Lily picked daintily at her roast chicken.

"So … you drive …_ brooms_," Vernon repeated slowly.

James nodded, still beaming.

Vernon scoffed, glancing at Petunia, before saying, "All _wizards,_" he said the word with distaste this time, "must be on unemployment benefits if the only thing they can afford to drive is broomsticks."

"Actually," James said, "we have galleons. They're thick, round coins made of solid gold."

Vernon stared dumbstruck at James for a moment before dropping his knife and fork with relish, making Lily jump. "Are you mocking me?"

"Erm … no," James said.

"You use solid gold … to buy flying broomsticks," Vernon repeated, his face turning an ugly shade of purple. "Do you think you're being funny?" he demanded.

"Vernon-" Lily tried jumping in, but was stopped by Petunia's glare.

"He's telling the truth," Violet said quietly, ignoring Petunia's icy look shooting her way.

"Shut up," Petunia snapped to her.

Sirius dropped his fork, all traces of humour gone from his face and Lily huffed angrily. "Tuney! What did Vi do to you? All of this," she said loudly to Vernon, waving her hands, "is a misunderstanding."

Vernon stood abruptly, knocking over his chair, and stormed out.

"You don't have to lie about solid gold, you know. If anything lying about it makes you even more of a freak," Petunia said ignoring her sisters words completely and following Vernon out. The restaurent

Lily half rose out of her seat, looking shocked, before sinking back down. Her eyes shone with unshed tears and she put her head in her hands. James froze, unsure of what to do, his arm hovering hesitantly around Lily's shoulders.

"Lily," he said. "Lily, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to …" he trailed off hopelessly as Lily's shoulders continued shaking, face in hands.

Sirius, his face dark, took Violet's hand. "We'll leave you guys alone."

"I'll come back to yours later tonight, Lily," Violet said, standing with Sirius and leaving the restaurant, whose occupants had all stopped to watch the proceedings.

Vernon's car was already gone. They assumed Petunia had gone with him and bade them no mind, continuing out of the parking lot.

"Another broken family," Sirius said bitterly, still holding Violet's hand. "That's … what? Me, you and now Lily. Oh and Peter, seeing as his dad's dead. So that's four of us out of six."

"We're growing up," Violet said quite distantly. "Things aren't ever simple anymore."

"It doesn't help there's a war reaching its peak either," Sirius added, feeling a twinge of concern at hearing her words. They were cold and lacking any sort of emotion, but he pushed his worry down quickly, dismissing it as paranoia. "Let's get out of here," he said.

"Where to?" Violet asked. "I don't think I should go back to Lily's just yet – just in case her mother is there and she asks..."

"Let's go to mine," Sirius said and he and Violet apparated to the Potter's.

* * *

The lights were on in the kitchen and dining room. Sirius opened the door quietly and he and Violet went upstairs to Sirius' room uninterrupted by Mr and Mrs Potter, aided by the enormity of the Potters' house.

Immediately, Violet collapsed onto Sirius' bed, kicking off her shoes and curling up. Sirius lay beside her and pulled her into his arms. Feeling her pressed against him somehow brought back his earlier concern. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked.

"Why?"

"You've just been acting odd since you mentioned premonitions in the car," Sirius said. "You seemed ... sad all of a sudden."

"Yes," Violet agreed. "I was. I still am a bit. I don't know why though."

Sirius paused for a moment. "Anytime you're sad, you know you can always come to me? I'll always be here for you whenever you need me."

Violet's stomach dropped. "Always?" she laughed softly. "That's a big word."

Sirius looked at her head resting on his chest. "You're doing it again. Being odd."

Violet propped her head up and looked at him. "I am, aren't I." She chortled, and it sounded more real this time."I just feel like ... nothing's ever certain. Stable. Things come apart all the time in a matter of seconds and today I just got the feeling that ... all this ... it's ... finite."

Sirius frowned a little. "I don't know what finite is."

"Having restrictions. Being limited."

"Well," Sirius struggled to find words. "That's depressing."

Violet snorted, feeling more like herself, having gotten it all off her chest. "It is. But you know what isn't?" she asked, the corner of her mouth twitching upwards. "We're alone right now. No one knows we're here. Mr and Mrs Potter can't hear us all the way in the kitchen."

Immediately Sirius perked up. "Very true. We should probably take advantage of this." He brushed a lock of blonde hair back from her neck. "We don't know when we'll get a chance like this again."

"Mm" Violet agreed, sitting up and pulling off her shirt. "See, this is why we just work."

* * *

**I ... have no excuse for how really late this update is. I could say it was schoolwork or exams or my upcoming graduation prep ... but it wasn't. If anything, it was a newly discovered obsession with Downton Abbey and that may have induced a severe writers block. Or rather, I was just obsessed with finding Downton Abbey fanfiction to satisfy me, as I went from watching all three season in four days to having no new episodes. Let's just say it hasn't been a good time for my emotional state.**

**Anyway. This is me asking - begging, maybe - for forgiveness. Also, thank you for all the new reviews, follows and favourites and I hope you all like this new chapter! I'd really love some new feedback in reviews. **


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